Harry James Evans: The Boy Who Lived
by IndigoStarshine
Summary: What if Severus Snape was actually Harry's father? How would that impact Harry and the rest of the Wizarding World? A typical HP/SS son story.
1. Atonement and An Unusual Boy

_A/N: Hi, just putting this story out there. If it gets a fair few replies I might continue writing more._

* * *

_12 December 1980_

James Potter frantically ran into his study room, he didn't have much time to write. He could see Death Eaters outside his house, a whole gang walking down the street, trudging through the heavy snow. They were coming for him. This would be the end of him. He had been betrayed but by whom he did not know.

He fumbled around for a spare piece of parchment and an inked quill. His owl surprised by his current behaviour. He was too preoccupied to even realise that he was crying in sorrow. This was the end of the story for him, after death he was sure nothing came after. He had always wanted to be a hero and this was what he would get.

Even when he was fully sent up to write what he needed to, he had trouble doing so. As much as he wanted to write, the words were difficult to place on the page.

He had to remind himself why he was doing this:

He didn't want his Death Eater distant cousins to inherit everything he owned, especially the invisibility cloak. He wanted to spite them.

It would be the last kind thing he would ever do.

It was his atonement.

Lily Evans had given birth to a son and she had made him the godfather. The girl whom he had loved for over nine years of his life and later rejected him had a son to a Death Eater. It wasn't her fault of course. As a muggle born she had trouble finding employment so she had to resort to lesser means to support herself once her parents had died and her hardhearted sister refused to help her. She was also willing to do certain things to gain information for the Order and by extension, to save the wizarding world. Lily was the bravest and kindest woman he had ever known. He owed it to her, and to her son.

She had named her new son Harry James Evans. The baby was named 'Harry' after his deceased grandfather and 'James' after his godfather. Everyone thought that the baby was his. James had gone along with this lie. He had never slept with her and even without Lily confessing, he knew who the father really was. The boy sadly took after his father, hopefully only physically.

He remembered the night when Lily had come to him crying. He opened the door expecting Sirius, Peter or Remus but was surprised when he saw Lily. She desperately needed help. She was living in poverty, pregnant and she didn't know what to do. He accepted her with open arms.

James was always a prankster and often bullied other students while at Hogwarts. He regretted a lot of his actions and when he had left Hogwarts, he desperately tried to make amends. One thing that got to James was that it was perhaps his actions that added to the reasons why the boy's father became a Death Eater in the first place. The boy wouldn't have a mother who had to whore herself to sustain the both of them. He hoped his godson would grow up to be happy and live in a world where there was no Voldemort or Death Eaters. This was how he would make amends to the man.

On the piece of paper he had forced himself to write:

'_I, James Charlus Potter, leave everything I own to Lily Elizabeth Evans and Harry James Evans. He is our son. Goodbye. James Potter.'_

Nobody would deny that Harry was his son now. He addressed the letter to Dumbledore, tied the letter to the leg of his owl and opened the window wide. Looking out the window, he noticed that his muggle neighbours had put up festive decorations. The muggles of Godrick's Hollow were good willed and accepting, just what Lily and her son needed from neighbours. He was reminded that this would be the boy's first Christmas and smiled, he could remember all the gifts his parents spoilt him with every Christmas.

The Death Eaters were banging at his front door now. He watched as his owl had flown out of sight before drawing out his wand and going to face the Death Eaters. There were too many of them to fight and he knew he would die, but he wasn't going to give up so easily.

* * *

_…And so, James Potter died leaving Lily and her son a considerable fortune. The letter had reached Dumbledore before the Dark Mark had appeared above his dwelling. Wizarding society had accepted that James was Harry's father although he still had the ghastly stigma of being born illegitimate._

_Life for Lily and her son had become slightly happier than it had been for a long time, until disaster happened. Voldemort had interpreted Harry as a part of the prophecy and set out to destroy him. Severus Snape tried to plea with the Dark Lord not to kill Lily as he still deeply loved her (he believed that Harry was the son of Potter). The result was Lily sacrificing herself for her son to live, Voldemort being temporarily vanquished and Snape becoming a permanent agent for Dumbledore._

_Harry Evans became the famous 'the boy who lived' and celebrated as a hero for a reason he could not even remember. Magic society unknowingly accepted the lowly illegitimate son of a muggle born prostitute and a former Death Eater as their saviour._

* * *

Even at a young age, Harry Evans didn't know what to do with himself.

Harry was an unnatural looking boy. He had sullen black hair recklessly cut by his aunt with the guidance of a cooking bowl over his head. He was pale enough for people to regularly inquire whether he was ill. He had facial features overly serious for a boy. To make it worse, the baggy, worn hand-me-down clothes that came from his large cousin Dudley did nothing to help give him an air of normality. However, it was his striking almond-shaped green eyes and thunderbolt scar on his forehead that attracted the most attention. When people asked him how he had acquired such an unusual mark, he could only shrug.

Harry had lived with his aunt and uncle for most of his life and could not see any way around it. Living with the Dursleys was forbidding. His Uncle Vernon was a large man who cared nothing but his business success, his car and how his family compared with the neighbours. Aunt Petunia was blonde and horse looking with a long neck. There was something about Harry that made her face occasionally grimace in disgust, which was quite cruel and harsh for someone to do to their sister's child. Then there was his cousin Dudley Dursley whom Harry often compared to a fat pig in a blond wig, whom his guardians dotted on.

If you randomly walked into their home on 4 Privet Drive, you couldn't tell that another boy lived there if you didn't know otherwise. There were no pictures of him on the walls. There was no bedroom for him as he slept under the stairs.

He had hoped that he had other family who would whisk him away from them, but with age he eventually realised that nobody was coming for him. For some reason he had always hoped that it was his real father before realising that the man not only had nothing to do with his life, but probably didn't know he even existed.

Whenever he got into arguments with Dudley, Dudley's resolution to everything was the same:

"Dudley, I'm staying back at school late because I have to tutor little Louise Maple. I can't do your homework for you tonight."

"Dad will get really angry at you if you don't!"

"I don't care, he's always angry at me anyway. Besides, he'll be too preoccupied with his company dinner. So is your Mum."

"Well, your Mum was a drug addicted prostitute."

This would strike a sad chord within Harry, maybe because his mother really was a prostitute and had died from a drug overdose. The Dursleys would sometimes use it against him. He hated them as much as they hated him and had already decided to run away when he was old enough. Harry knew he was clever enough to make it in the world by himself, but life for him always didn't seem fair. For instance, why didn't they just put him up for adoption? Harry was sure there were plenty of families that would love a son, even one like him.

Harry liked school better than home. For a boy with such an unnatural appearance, he was reasonably well liked. Well, more liked than his bully of a cousin Dudley. Harry was the kind of boy who spent all recess in the library reading books, not just because it was refuge from bullies like Dudley and his gang, but because he genuinely liked reading. He like anything, from fiction to non-fiction, from sci-fi to some romance. He just liked books. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia hated going to parent teacher meetings because all they would hear was 'Harry is a very bright and talented boy' and 'Dudley is a bully, dangerously overweight and underperforming'.

He wouldn't have to put up with Dudley at school for much longer anyway; Dudley would be attending Smeltings, the academy Vernon attended while Harry would be attending Stonewall High. Even though Stonewall was sure to be a shitty school and filled with bullies, Harry was determined to succeed. Over his school years, he had developed several methods of dealing with bullies.

Harry had only ever had a few friends, both of closer friends had left the school by the time he was ten. His best friend Emmy Weiss was a year older and her family had moved to London so she could attend an academically selective secondary school. His other best friend, Adam Freyson and his family moved back to Iceland a year ago. Harry remembered that he couldn't speak much English when he first arrived and Harry had helped him escape bullies. To Harry's anger and resentment, the Dursleys wouldn't let him have them as pen pals. It had been a very lonely school year.

He still got along with most of the over students though, even if they thought he was highly abnormal and some made an effort to avoid him. Harry didn't complain though, he _was_ highly abnormal. Strange things would happen when he was upset, frightened, mad or sometimes just bored. He remembered he made the toy train that Dudley had received from Aunt Marge for his seventh birthday vanish into thin air; he didn't intend to do something so mean but when the woman who he was forced to call 'aunt' gave a packet of dog biscuits he just lost it. When Aunt Petunia had once shaved off all his hair, he found that it had grown back to the way it was overnight. Earlier that year, he had failed to explain to the principal why he had seemingly teleported himself on the school roof once when he was being chased by Dudley and his gang. Dudley's gang and other groups of bullies permanently left him alone after that. He was then after known as 'that freak Evans'.

In fact Harry's favourite memory had been caused by his strange abilities. Two years ago, he and Emmy were riding on her bicycle when a gang of high school students had turned up and threatened them. Harry had tried to outrun them but he found that it was extra difficult with Emmy on the back, holding on to him with her life. Suddenly, Harry found himself rising higher and higher. It was amazing. Emmy had started screaming at first but after being up high for a couple of minutes she had started to enjoy the view. She didn't seem scared of him. In fact, she told him that her younger sister Jenny did similar things and so did her cousin. It was a relief that he wasn't the only one.

All this changed one day when he would receive a letter in the mail…


	2. Snape's Love and Letters from Noone

_December 1979_

It was late at night and Severus could just see the silhouette of Lily's body as she stood to look out of the window. Her body was still so beautiful and he still lusted for her, despite being tarnished by the bodies of others, mainly men. As she gazed out of his bedroom window at his place at Spinner's End, he knew her well enough to know what kind of thoughts were going through her mind. She would be thinking thoughts full of self-loathing.

"Sev, do you know what time it is?"

"It's twelve thirty, darling. Come back to bed."

"I'm not your darling, Sev - Just a whore who satisfies your needs. That's how all my Death Eater clients see me."

"You have other Death Eater clients?"

"Oh yes, I seem to be very popular with them - the hypocrites. They aren't as nice to me as you are though. I've had Bellatrix Lestrange who I can say is a very strange person. Nott is an asshole. So are Crabbe, Goyle and the Carrows. Malfoy has a small ding-a-ling."

There were so many things that he wanted to tell her and do for her that were made impossible by being a Death Eater. He wanted to tell her that he loved her soul more than her body. He wanted to marry her and support her. He wanted her to be happy again.

She turned her head to glare at him, the moonlight made her expression more haunting, "Remember when we were kids?"

Her question took him by surprise and he took a while before answering. It was not because he couldn't remember but because it seemed like it was such a long time ago, almost a different world.

"Of course."

"We had no responsibilities, no war, no fighting. We were the best of friends. It was wonderful."

"I miss those days."

She started to faintly smile, something that he had never seen an adult Lily do, "I wish I was a child again. I wish we could be friends. Even though you have grown into a Death Eater you are still so kind to me. It proves that there is still some good in you."

"We can still be friends," he got himself out of bed and went over to her, not to touch her but to just stand beside her, to see what she was seeing, "I don't just want you for sex. We can still just talk as we use to."

She shook her head, "No. I am nothing more than a whore. I hate what I do and I hate sex. I'm only twenty and I've slept with more people than I can count. That's why I don't want to do it anymore. After tonight I will not be a prostitute anymore. Severus, I am having a baby and I want to be a good mother."

Severus felt a brick plummet through his stomach, he was not expecting this. He knew that a witch could only become pregnant to a man that she deeply loved and no one else. He knew about her association with the order and how she was connected to Potter, Black and the others. He started to feel anger and envy, even though it would have been a disaster for his Death Eater status to have an illegitimate child with her.

"You don't look like you're very far along with the pregnancy. Is Potter the father? Black? Lupin? Or someone else from the Order?"

"The father of my child is none of your business. What's the baby to you anyway?"

She then proceeded to put all of her clothes back on. There was nothing he could do to stop her from leaving, so he did nothing.

"Goodbye, Sev. I'll always remember you as a childhood friend, not a monster. What you've become is just a result of the world we live in."

Lily then left before he could say goodbye. She would never believe him if he told her that he loved her. Severus never did see her again.

* * *

"Dudley, go get the mail."

"Dad, make Harry get it."

"Make Dudley get it."

"Dudley, poke him with your Smelting's stick."

Harry reluctantly got up to get the mail. It was a typical morning; he had been made to cook the Dursleys some breakfast. His fat pig of a cousin and red-faced jerk of an uncle ate almost everything before Harry could even have a look at it. While Aunt Petunia prepared herself to have brunch with some of her friends at a fancy restaurant, if you could really call the gossipy group of ladies she spent time with as genuine friends.

Harry looked through the mail with the usual apathy; a bill for Uncle Vernon, a bank statement for Uncle Vernon, another bill for Uncle Vernon, a fashion magazine subscription for Aunt Petunia. Then he came across an interesting envelope. The paper was old and brownish and it had a string around it. It had no stamp, only an insignia of a shield with a 'H' in the centre on the back. The best part was that it was addressed to him: _Harry James Evans, the cupboard underneath the stairs, 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey._

Harry was thrilled, _'Well, this is truly enigmatic and exciting!'_

This was the first letter he had ever received in his short life. He quickly stuffed it in his back pocket. He would open it in his bedroom away from the Dursleys.

He went back to the Dursleys without saying a word, but as usual, Dudley could almost psychically sense what Harry was up to. It was one of the two only ways he displayed any kind of intelligence, the other being able to name all the TV shows on each channel for every day of the week. Maybe Dudley was watching him pick up the mail.

Dudley snatched the letter out of Harry's pocket, took one look at it and opened his big fat mouth.

"Dad! Look, Harry's got a letter!"

"What? Who'd be writing to you?"

"Somebody obviously," Harry replied in a snide way. Usually they would retort back at him when he spoke like this, but today was suddenly different.

Aunt Petunia gasp and awkwardly ran over to Uncle Vernon in her high heels to pick up the letter. Aunt Petunia was fully dolled up; wearing a blue and white polka dot dress, her favourite purple high heels and her best, most expensive make up. If it were any other woman Harry would have said that she looked beautiful but this was his horse faced aunt - she just looked silly wearing such fancy clothes.

"The school of freaks has come for him…"

* * *

_It was over the next couple of days that the Dursleys went absolutely mad. After they had destroyed the first letter, several more had appeared the next day to take their place. And so forth. Harry was torn between feeling bemused by the stupid behaviour of the Dursleys and upset that they were destroying his letters. It was strange, the next day, Harry realised that the letters were being sent by owls._

_A couple of days later an explosion of letters out of the mail box had lead Uncle Vernon to take them on a random holiday to 'a hut on the rocks' in the hope that the letters would stop._

_Before too long, a huge man had come to save him from them… It was from him that Harry found out he was a wizard and would be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._


	3. The Sorting of Harry Evans

Severus watched as Minerva led the new group of first years towards the Sorting Hat. It was that time of year again but this time would different. It would be the year that Harry Evans, the son of Lily, started his first year at Hogwarts. Severus had been waiting for this moment for so many years that his heart raced with trepidation. The moment seemed surreal. However, he responded with the usual apathy that he displayed for the sorting ceremony every previous year, such as only clapping for students sorted into Slytherin and taking a mental note of which children were sorted into Gryffindor.

When all the eleven year olds had gathered around, Severus tried to look for the boy. He tried to see if he could spot any boys that looked like they could be a miniature Potter but after minutes of looking, he couldn't find one.

It was then that Minerva started to call names, "Abbott, Hannah."

It wouldn't be long before she would go on to the 'E' section and call over young Harry. The boy was forced to have his muggle born mother's last name as a sign that he was illegitimate. Severus quickly found himself feeling melancholic; looking at the boy would be a reminder that she had a son with his worst enemy. A woman like Lily had the power to change him from being the lonely, self-centred Death Eater that he was. The love of his life was dead and the spawn of Potter would be the only reminder of her existence. Severus knew he would never come across a woman like her ever again.

"Evans, Harry."

Severus' heart had skipped a few beats as he watched a scrawny, dark-haired boy walk over to the stand and sit on it. The boy's facial expressions were a mixture of sheer excitement and shyness. If he really was the son of Potter; he looked absolutely nothing like him.

The whole Great Hall had become silent as the hat was placed on his head. Usually a boy like him would have been laughed at because of his status as the son of a muggle born prostitute and his awkward appearance but he wasn't. Everybody wanted to know what house would have the pleasure of having 'the boy who lived' as one of their own. Severus found it interesting that the boy didn't seem to gloat on his newly found fame as his eleven-year-old father would have, but instead acted timidly and seemed a little confused.

* * *

Harry gulped as the Sorting Hat was placed on his head. He hoped that he would be placed in the right house, hopefully with Ron Weasley and not with Draco Malfoy.

'_Well, well, well, what do we have here?'_

Harry almost jumped off the stool; he could hear the hat in his mind. It was an uncomfortable experience.

'_Plenty of talent, I see and not a bad mind either. I see that you are generally loyal, fair and kind to others, especially to those you love and care about - maybe you would belong in Hufflepuff. You also have a great love of learning and reading, a trait of a true Ravenclaw. You are unafraid to stand up for what is right against neighbourhood bullies. I see courage, oh yes, and a strong need to prove yourself - '_

Harry closed his eyes and began to wish hard, _'Not Slytherin, not Slytherin.'_

'_Not Slytherin, eh? But Slytherin will lead you on the path to greatness, there's no doubt about that. No? Well, if you're sure, then…'_

"GRYFFINDOR!"

* * *

In the mist of shouting and applause, Severus watched in disappointment as the son of Lily walked over to sit at the Gryffindor table.

* * *

_A/N: I don't really have much to say... reviews, favourites and alerts are always welcome. If you spot any grammar mistakes just tell me._


	4. First Potions Lesson

Harry found his first couple of days at Hogwarts wonderful. The place was beautiful, spacious and enigmatic. Words could not really describe how happy he was to be there. Harry had taken time to explore the castle and look at the surroundings; he was even tempted to go near the Forbidden Forest just for a look. He was surprised by this newly found adventurous aspect of his personality; it was as if being away from the Dursleys was like being let out of cage. The Sorting Hat obviously had some sense in placing him in Gryffindor, the house of bravery and courage. He seemed to be more impressed by the castle then other students, especially students who were raised with the knowledge that they had magic in them. He guessed that unlike the other students who missed their families, Harry didn't have anywhere he would rather be or anybody to miss.

Finding out he was a wizard was probably the best thing that had ever happened to him. He didn't like to think about where he would currently be if he had no magic. He didn't like to think about the Dursleys either. The people at Hogwarts generally treated him better than his only relatives did. It proved to Harry that blood wasn't necessarily thicker than water, at least in his case.

He did manage to make new friends. He had already made good friends with Ron Weasley, the boy he had met on the Hogwarts Express. The red-haired boy came from a large family of magic folk and had been very kind in helping Harry by explaining many aspects of the magical world. There was also Hermione Granger, a studious girl who had buffy mousy brown hair and abnormally large front teeth. Her parents were dentists and like him, grew up ignorant of the magical world. Harry found her a nice girl, even if she was a bit of a bossy know-it-all.

There were also negative aspects to coming to Hogwarts. One was his unwanted fame, as a shy person, Harry dislike having people talk about him behind his back or trying to get a good look at his scar. There were also the people who made fun of him, at his old school there were also people who teased him but that was for his nerdish ways and odd appearance. The people who teased him at Hogwarts mainly did so because of his birth status. It turns out that being born illegitimate was a particularly negative stigma in the wizarding world. It also didn't help that his mother was 'muggle born'. It was never fair to be teased, but being discriminated against for something he was born and couldn't control seemed more unfair than being labelled a nerd or a weirdo.

Mainly it the Slytherins who held this prejudice against him but at least he wasn't the only person targeted, Hermione and other muggle borns also experienced prejudice against them. He especially didn't like Draco Malfoy. The blond boy seemed to excrete obnoxiousness from every pore of his body by claiming that he was better than everyone else simply because he was deemed 'pureblood'. His drawling voice made him even more unpleasant to listen to.

Harry just stuck around his friends and ignored all negative comments that came his way. When he wasn't reading books or doing homework, he and Ron would be playing chess with each other and versing Ravenclaw students. Although Harry liked being a Gryffindor, he found many of the others in the house rowdy and too outgoing for his liking. Many Ravenclaws were studious, clever and held interesting conversations.

Despite the slight negative aspects of Hogwarts, Harry found himself very much at home.

* * *

"Double Potions with the Slytherins," Ron frowned as he looked over their timetable, "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favours them - we'll be able to see if it's true."

"I hope not," Harry said through bites of pancake, "I hope he's not as nasty as some of the Slytherin students."

Hermione nodded in agreement, "We better get going otherwise we'll be late."

They left the Great Hall after they had finished breakfast and made their way to the dungeons.

* * *

Severus Snape was busy pedantically preparing the classroom for the new first years' introduction to Potions. Using non-verbal magic, Severus made cauldrons appear on the tables along with the other equipment the students would need. He made sure that the equipment was positioned identically on each desk. He didn't know why he took such care in setting up his classroom, it wasn't as if the snotty nosed brats every appreciated it.

It wasn't long before the first eleven year olds arrived and took their seats. In the short time before the lesson was expected to begin, Severus took careful note on the new students. Like which ones didn't look like they were very bright. He also took note of the new Gryffindors, a new year of brazen and loathsome fools.

When he was satisfied that enough students were in the room to begin, he only had to wave his hand and the children would become quiet. That was the only thing he genuinely enjoyed about teaching, the authority and power he had over the students through fear. If it wasn't for his bargain with Dumbledore, he would not have ever become a teacher.

"Well, welcome to potions. I am Professor Snape. I don't expect all of you to be able to respect the subtle art of potion making but for those of you who display aptitude, it should prove interesting. I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can teach you how to cure boils, brew glory and stopper death."

He looked around the classroom. Most of the Gryffindor students looked a bit intimidated – they must have heard the rumours about him. He also noticed Harry Evans looking curiously around the room, admiring bottles in the cabinets filled with potions ingredients. Obviously not paying his teacher full attention.

"Harry Evans," He called out and the boy sprung in fright to look at him, "Our new celebrity."

Some of the Slytherin class members began snickering.

"Tell me Mr Evans, where exactly would you find a bezoar?"

He glared into the boy's eyes and penetrated his thoughts, _'I think it's the undigested matter that forms in the stomach of a goat.'_

The buffy haired, bucktoothed girl sitting beside him enthusiastically raised her hand up high and waved, eager to answer for him.

The boy started to shake his head, "I don't know, Professor."

The boy obviously disliked drawing attention to himself, something he would not have expected from the son of Potter.

"Let's try again, what would you use Gillyweed for?"

'_Well, it can give you temporary gills and webbed digits. Obviously helpful if you wanted to go underwater for various lengths of time.'_

"I don't know, Professor."

For a moment Severus made eye contact with the boy. His heart almost skipped a beat when he saw Lily's bright green eyes glare back at him again. Using Legilimency, he briefly delved into the boy's mind. Even with a small look what he found was interesting. The boy was deliberately not answering the questions mainly because he had a defiant nature and hated being singled out because of his fame. Severus also sensed a desire to fit in as much with his peers as possible.

"Clearly fame isn't everything, is it Mr Evans?"

More snickering from the other students and it wasn't only Slytherins this time.

Severus went back to teaching the class as per usual and left Harry alone. He found it hard to summon up the same feelings of hatred that he had felt for James Potter. The boy had no Potter in him, physically or in personality. It made him kind of happy to know that there was no progeny of Potter walking on the Earth. Severus also became suspicious, if Lily's son was not Potter's, who was the boy's real father.

* * *

_A/N: Hello, some reviews would be very much appreciated! :) If there are any grammar errors, just tell me._


	5. The Truth of Spinner's End

_A/N: Hi. This is just going to be a bit on Severus' background, just to make my headcanon clear before continuing further. Sorry if there is not much dialogue in this chapter. Warning for sad themes and mentioning of abuse (not explict). Thanks for the alerts, favourites and reviews so far._

* * *

On the afternoon after Harry's first potions lesson Severus took a portkey back to his lowly house at Spinner's End and began to search through his belongings. He was trying to find the photo of his first year cohort at Hogwarts. He was particularly interested to see whether Harry looked more like him or Sirius Black at his age. Not that it proved paternity but it was a start.

With the amount of mess that was spread around his house it would take a while to find anything, even with the assistance of magic. He used a variety of household spells to try and sort out the junk that was lying around. Over the years he had forgotten where his mother had kept her most valuable belongings safe from her husband. While he was growing up, his mother often had to hide things to save them from being broken.

He suddenly became amused by the fact that although he hadn't spent much time in the house since he was sixteen, the house was in a state of utter chaos as if he spent every minute here. In fact, the house had been pretty much fallow since he was a teenager.

"I don't know why I still keep this place," Severus muttered with vile bitterness, "It's not like I have any happy childhood memories here. I should have sold it to muggles ages ago."

It was true; Severus completely resented this house more than anything else in his life. It was where his parents constantly fought each other and where he was abused as a child.

His mother had never laid a harsh hand on 'her little angel' but Tobias Snape on the other hand was brutal to both of them. Severus would remember when he would come back from work in a fowl mood and start yelling at both of them; his violence would then escalate to throwing a young Severus against the dull brick walls of the house or do something equally horrible. He remembered his mother was always there with a healing potion and a warm hug afterwards. Although she was able to cure his injuries, over time he had developed a spidery walk because of the repeated injuries. It was his mother who taught him how to brew potions and do basic spells before starting Hogwarts.

Severus found himself shaking his head, why did his wonderful and intelligent mother end up marrying a horrible muggle like Tobias Snape? Until he was fifteen this was a great mystery.

He did know that his mother had a life just as difficult as his own. Eileen Prince was born into a pureblood but dysfunctional family and was bullied for most of her time at Hogwarts, mainly by Gryffindor students. Once she had left Hogwarts she became involved with a charming wizard who her pureblood supremacist parents didn't approve of. She couldn't run away with him because he was older and already married with other children of his own. He was also in a position of power and could not afford to have the knowledge of fathering an illegitimate child to a much younger woman going around. So she married Tobias Snape, the first muggle man she could find and addled with his memory to make him believe that he was the father of her child. She did not believe that a decent man would come along and love her because she was not pretty enough. This was all written in a note that his mother had addressed to him before her death but he had known that Tobias Snape was not his real father since he was twelve.

He remembered the night with perfect clarity. It was the school holidays and he had stayed up late reading because he couldn't get to sleep with his parents fighting. After the argument had finished, his mother ran into his room sobbing with her face buried in her hands. There was blood seeping slightly from in between her fingers and ran down the back of her palms. She then told him between sobs:

"I'm sorry Sev," She said, "Tobias isn't your real father. I'm sorry that I've lied to you for all these years. I hope you can forgive me."

He said nothing, but let her cry herself to sleep next to him. His twelve year old self knew that he was meant to feel angry at her but he didn't. Instead, he felt relief – he wasn't connected to the man by blood at all. After that Severus started referring to himself as 'the Half-Blood Prince' as an attempt to distance himself from Tobias Snape as much as he could. He had never bothered to change his name or tried to find his biological father because as far as he was concerned, the man was irrelevant to his life.

As he continued to clean his way through the house, he made his way closer and closer towards his mother's room. He hadn't been in the room since he was fifteen, but knew that there was every possibility that the place was where she would have kept photos. The last time he had been in there was to remove his mother's body.

Severus was finding it harder and harder to breathe. He had a vivid flashback of when he found his mother dead. He can come home for Christmas that year knowing that she had been feeling more miserable than usual. He opened the bedroom door expecting to find her reading in bed but instead found her pale body lying there silent and still. There was a note next to her bed and empty bottle of poison beside her. He didn't quite remember what happened afterwards but remembered starting to scream and cry wildly. He had completely lost control of his magic and emotions. The next thing he could remember was sitting in a destroyed living room, there was glass and torn wallpaper everywhere.

After that he was an orphan, as Tobias Snape had disappeared afterwards. Severus didn't care where the man had gone; he was only glad that he wasn't coming back.

His mother's room was exactly as she had left it after all these years only dustier. Severus didn't need to look very far because his mother had kept a picture of himself as a child on her bedside table. He blew off the dust to get a better look.

"My goodness," Severus muttered in shock, "The boy looks just like me."

It was true. Harry Evans was nearly a twin of himself at around that age, although he didn't have dark eyes or a hooked nose. Harry also looked like he was a lot cleaner as well – mainly because unlike him, Harry was probably taught how to look after himself.

Severus didn't know what to do. Of course, he wanted to be a better father to Harry than what his own father had been but he knew that claiming Harry as his own would be detrimental to his plan with Dumbledore. Besides, he knew how the conversation between them would end even before he had started it:

"_He's my son, Albus. I want to raise him."_

"_Severus, you can't just tell the boy. You are supposed to be a spy. If you really loved the boy and his mother you would protect him from a distance. A war is coming; Severus and you know that both Harry and yourself will be at the core of it. We must all do what is right, I'm sorry."_

The crafty old man had probably known this all along. He would have, he knew Lily well as she had been a part of the Order since she had left school.

Severus left his house at Spinner's End and went to The Leaky Cauldron to get something to eat. He didn't want to go back to Hogwarts just yet.

Harry was his son and there was nothing he could do about it.


	6. Good Men

A/N: Hi, its me again. Thanks to all that put an alert, favourite or review on this story. I will try to slow down the pace of the story so it can be enjoyed longer. Please point out any grammatical errors that you can find. Also tell me if I should upgrade the rating to 'M'.

* * *

_Come up to meet you _

_Tell you I'm sorry_

_You don't know how lovely you are_

_I had to find you_

_Tell you I need you_

_Tell you I set you apart_

_…_

_I was just guessing at numbers and figures_

_Pulling your puzzles apart_

_Questions of science; science and progress_

_Do not speak as loud as my heart_

_Tell me you love me_

_Come back and haunt me_

_Oh and I rush to the start_

_Running in circles, chasing our tails_

_Coming back as we are_

_Nobody said it was easy_

_Oh it's such a shame for us to part_

_Nobody said it was easy_

_No one ever said it would be so hard_

_I'm going back to the start_

Coldplay, The Scientist

* * *

"Good evening, Tom."

"Hello Severus, what's the matter?" the old, hunchback barman replied, "Those ghastly teenagers been giving you more grey hairs?"

"More than usual I'm afraid. At this rate, I'll be as greyer than great Merlin before I know it."

Tom laughed, "So the usual then?"

"Yeah, but I'd like my pumpkin pasty with apples and horseradish on the side instead of garden salad."

"So it's really that bad then?"

"Yeah, things aren't going to be good this year. What about you? How are you going?"

"The same old. I had to clean up a stink bomb in men's room earlier. I reckon it was one of the younger lads."

"That's never good. Young people always seem to get ruder as you age."

After all his years as a professor at Hogwarts, Tom could always tell when something was amiss with Severus. It wasn't surprising though. Severus, like many other men, came to pubs in order to drown out their sorrows. However, Severus was never much of a drinker and usually only ordered a light butterbeer at the most.

Severus liked the Leaky Cauldron because it was clean, busy and largely anonymous (unlike the Hog's Head where there was always an eavesdropper). It was a fairly public place in the wizarding world and he was unlikely to run into any Death Eaters or other sinister people. There was the occasional parent or former student daring enough to confront him but other than that his menacing aura encouraged people to leave him alone.

Tom poured him a butterbeer and then went to serve someone else. Although he and Severus were friendly, there had always been an unspoken agreement not to inquire too much about Severus' life.

Severus took time to observe the other pub patrons. He saw people laughing with friends and couples in love. There were also a few other loners sitting to the side but not many. He also noticed families and surprisingly felt a little sad. They seemed to be so happy together, so peaceful. He supposed that he was feeling sad for himself as being a part of a happy family would be something he would never experience. It was likely that it wasn't something Harry would ever experience either.

"Severus?"

He turned to see a man sitting alone at the table behind him. With his dirty blond hair slicked back and faded grey suit, he looked like an ordinary sleazy muggle businessman. However, Severus knew better than that. He began to smile, a weak smile, but a genuine smile.

Both men got off their chairs to shake hands.

Severus' smile became wider, "Alastair, it has been so long."

Alastair Jones had seemed to grow lankier with age instead of wider as most men do. He had never been a portrait of beauty but his current wrinkles and hair loss made him seem a lot older than he actually was. Like Severus, he had been known to neglect his physical appearance and by the look of him, his hectic transit lifestyle was starting to wear him thin. Alastair had the privilege of being one of the only people that Severus considered a friend.

"Likewise, my old friend. I was thinking about contacting you before I went back home. I don't frequent Britain often. There isn't much business here."

"That is fine. I've also been quite busy. I don't think I'll be able to travel to Brisbane as habitually anymore."

His friend was a successful entrepreneur and inventor who had designed and sold a wide range of magical products. They had met at Aki Etshuto University, one of the only magical universities in the world and by far the best. Like many other exceptionally talented wizards, Alastair had to move around the world to study magic further. Severus had never regretted the decision to study in Japan for a few years after Lily's death. It was an eye opening experience to see a place so radically different from where he came from.

Severus respected for his friend for being just as much of a self-made man as he was. Alastair was born into an ordinary Australian working class household and built his way to the top.

Alastair chuckled, "That is a shame. I have been looking forward to your next visit. It has been three years since I've last seen you."

The men sat together at the same table and continued to talk. Their meals arrived unceremoniously before they knew it. They quickly began eating. Both were eager to leave the family friendly establishment to find somewhere more suited to their interests.

"So," Severus asked, "How have you been?"

Alastair rolled his eyes dismally, "Dreadful. The business has been flourishing but I divorced my wife, Paula Francine three months ago. It wasn't an easy divorce. She got primary custody of the kids and a good third of my money."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I was hardly ever home. It wouldn't have been so bad if she didn't remarry to someone else within a week."

Severus had never liked Paula. Sure she was pretty and clever, but she was also very snobbish. He didn't know what Alastair saw in her. He remembered that Paula had come from a rich and prominent family, one of the only Australian wizarding families that claimed pureblood heritage. Most Australian wizarding families were descent of European squibs banished by their magical relatives to a harsh, distant colony out of shame.

"Do you know of a Lucius Malfoy?"

"Yes, I know he was a Death Eater a while back but escaped going to Azkaban. His son started at Hogwarts this week."

Alastair scrunched up his nose in disgust, "That explains it. I met him a couple of weeks ago with business and he rudely refused to shake my hand. He doesn't like 'mudbloods' or people who aren't as 'pureblood' as he is. He's also not particularly good at occlumency either. I knew his intentions and what he was thinking our entire meeting."

"He's not the most pleasant man, Lucius." Severus agreed and frowned.

"And it's not just him," Alastair said, "The old 'blood' prejudice still hasn't died here. In many other countries if you're magic, then you're magic – it doesn't matter much where your parents came from. Such prejudice is destroying the country. During my travels, I've noticed that wizarding societies that still hold on to the old prejudices are less dynamic and have problems."

Severus nodded at what his friend had to say. During his stints of travel to other countries he had seen the way that other wizards lived and noticed that many seemed to be much happier.

"What's more are these so called 'Death Eaters' and their leader," Alastair continued, taking care not to mention the forbidden name, "I can tell that there is going to be more civil war, that there is still not peace. I see that the people of Britain are secretly living in fear. Look at Eastern Europe, the wizarding society there still hasn't recovered after Grindelwald."

The familiar feelings of regret began to sneak up on Severus once again. He became a Death Eater as a young and foolish man, because it was expected of him and didn't see any other options. He had no desire to tell his muggle born friend that he was once a Death Eater, it would ruin their friendship.

Severus paused for a minute, "You are very right about that. The term 'pureblood' is actually complete trash. I read an article in 'The Scientific Wizard' recently that a group of researcher have done research into the genealogy of wizardkind to discover that all wizards are descent of muggles. Magic was originally a genetic mutation. Most the pureblood supremacists that I've met are nothing more than ignorant inbreeds."

Severus genuinely meant everything that he had said. He had never seriously believed in blood purity in his life, even as a Death Eater or with his gang at Hogwarts. Alastair smiled at him, confident that his friend was an upright and honest man. Alastair was very wrong.

Once Alastair had finished his meal, Severus offered to take him to a place in the red light district of London. Severus advised his friend to pick up some stray litter and transfigure it into muggle money. They then apparated from the alley way outside The Leaky Cauldron to outside the exact place that Severus had in mind, no muggles noticed them.

"Did you ever miss going to these places when you were married?"

Alastair shook his head, "What do you mean? I never stopped. Did you expect me to miss out on experiencing beautiful women all over the world?"

Severus chuckled; Alastair hadn't really changed a bit since they had left Japan. He could fondly recall the adventures they had experienced together in Tokyo. Their adventures would involve numerous young, petite and very cute Japanese muggle women that exotically dressed themselves up as dolls.

They took no hesitation in giving the guards some fake money and entering. It was fairly dark inside except for the lazers and light effects that would place emphasis on the girls that were performing. Most of these girls wore absolutely nothing except for a pair of skimpy panties. The music sounded other worldly but energetic, he had no idea what kind of instruments made the noises. There was also artificially made fog which covered the audience, hiding men who would not want to be found here.

"One of the many things I didn't like about Paula," Alastair commented while watching the girls, "Was that she was never any fun. I'm quite glad to be rid of her to be honest."

Severus watched the women glide themselves around poles and noticed that he experienced much less attraction to them as he was getting older.

"So, how's your job? Are you still teaching Potions?"

"Yes, I'm afraid. It's the same old stuff. I'd rather be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. I did my doctoral thesis in methods of detecting and destroying of manticores."

"Do you realise that teaching teenagers is far below someone of your talents? You, my friend, were meant to be a true scientist not a teacher."

Severus had to agree, he hated his job. He wished he had a life of his own, a life without a debt to pay for the wrong doing he had done in his life.

"I have my reasons, Alastair and let's leave it at that."

"But I just don't know how you manage to stand young people. I can't, especially when I remember what I was like at that age. The only children I've ever managed to stand are my own. Do you have any children?"

Severus knew he should lie and claim otherwise but didn't, "I have one son, and he's eleven. His name is Harry."

"He would have been born before we met. Do you have a lot to do with him?"

"I only found out that I was his father not long ago."

"Let me guess, his mother was a whore?"

"She wasn't just _any_ whore. I've loved her my entire life. I still do. She really was amazing."

Alastair raised his eyebrows, "Really? That is amazing. I've never really felt such devotion to a woman. The only women I can say that I have ever truly and everlastingly loved are my mother and my seven year old daughter, Emerald."

Severus was careful to make sure his voice was devoid of emotion, "Yes, I had a true love and I lost her. She died about a decade ago. I was partially responsible for her death."

Alastair turned to him with sincerity in his pale eyes, "Then you have experienced a truly terrible loss, my friend."

The men continued to watch the women bare themselves for the world to see. Severus thought dismally about how he, his friend and every other man here saw these women as objects for their own gratification.

"Severus, thank you for showing me around tonight. You've always had excellent taste in girls, especially when it comes to whores. Although a million whores could not replace your loss, let me treat you to a girl just for tonight. Choose any girl here you want and I will pay for you – with real muggle money."

"Thank you, but your offer is much too kind and I'm afraid that I'm not in the mood. It has really been my pleasure to show you around."

Alastair shrugged and left it alone. A younger Alastair would have tried to spur him on. The men continued to talk through the night and stayed there until it was closing time.


	7. Friendship and A Sad Truth

"Well, now I know I was never meant to fly."

"It's only been your first time, Harry. Don't be so hard on yourself. I definitely wasn't good when I first started. I'll even help you practise on the weekend. "

"I don't know Ron, breaking your leg on the first go isn't exactly an incentive to try again."

"Once you get out of the hospital wing you'll be fine, all forgotten. My brothers and I have had plenty of experiences with breaking bones and bruises. It was a good thing that Mum was good with healing spells."

It was only his first broomstick flying lesson and he had already managed to break a limb. A leg to be exact.

It had all started when Neville Longbottom had lost control of his broom and broke his wrist. After Madame Hooch had taken Neville to the hospital wing, Draco Malfoy had threatened to break Neville's remembrall. Draco had dared Harry to fly on his broomstick to catch it. Normally he wouldn't have been spurred by Malfoy's comments but he felt that somebody needed to stand up to Malfoy and to protect Neville from being bullied. It had turned out disastrously; Harry fell off the broom and fractured his leg. Not only that, but Neville's remembrall was smashed.

Good did come out of it though, Draco was suspended for at least three weeks and he also had to buy Neville another remembrall. From what Harry had heard, Malfoy's father was also highly unimpressed.

As a result of his martyrdom, Harry had to spend a night under the supervision of Madame Pomfrey. She could heal broken bones in less than a heartbeat but his body had rejected the first healing spell that she had tried. The stay overnight was just to make sure that his body didn't reject the spell. Apparently it was unusual for a wizard's body to reject or be resistant spells, especially healing spells. Madame Pomfrey also believed that his body was probably immune to other spells as well. It was possible to do a full check but he would have to go to Saint Mungo's in order to find out. He didn't have the time to go there. Harry wanted to though and was extremely curious, maybe that was the reason why he survived Voldemort's attack on him as a baby.

"I can't believe that you're only staying overnight and you've already received plenty of get well cards – mostly from people you don't know."

Harry rolled his eyes, "I know. I'll throw away _all_ the stuff from people I've never met. They're only wishing me well because I'm famous. It's ridiculous."

Ron shook his head, "You sure do hate having so much attention."

"I can't help it. I'm an introvert."

"That and being overly serious. You could _at least_ keep the sweets they gave you."

Harry looked at Ron curiously. Harry had never imagined being friends with someone like Ron; they were opposites in many ways. He disliked every kind of sport, while Ron was madly into Quidditch. He hated getting a lot of attention while Ron strived to distinguish himself from his older brothers. He was overly studious while Ron had no interest in school work.

"Speaking of visitors- Hermione came to see me earlier and told me that apparently my Dad, James Potter became the Gryffindor seeker in his first year at Hogwarts."

"Wow, that's cool! He'd be one of the youngest seekers ever."

Harry pouted dismally, "It's a shame I didn't inherit the talent. Oh well."

"Harry, it was only your first try. It always takes a few tries to figure it out. Oh, that reminds me – Harry could you help me figure out the potions questions?"

"Yes, you don't need to ask."

"What was Snape going on about when mentioned the 'Basic Laws'?"

"Yeah, he was going on about the absolutely basic rules of potion making. He was actually going on about things that are common sense but in complicated, waffly language. Like, if you drink more of a potion you can increase its effects."

"Oh. I see. What everyone has been saying about Snape is true, he really is arrogant and prejudice against Gryffindors."

Harry frowned, he didn't like to judge people based on only one encounter with them but he supposed Ron was right.

"Yeah, he tried to pick on me at the start of the first lesson. At least he isn't as boring as Professor Binns, his lessons are really painful."

"I would rather boring over mean, Harry."

Madame Pomfrey came out into the ward to see if Ron was still there, it was obvious that she sensed something. Ron quickly ducked underneath Harry's bed to avoid detection. He was supposed to have left an hour ago. When she had left, Ron came up and picked up a chess set that was on the ground beside him. They had to be very quiet to avoid being caught.

"Do you wanna try and sneak a game?"

Harry put on his most deadpan face, "Does a bear shit in the woods?"

"Do you want your leg broken again?"

Ron gave him a light punch to the leg and proceeded to tickle him. Harry tried hard to hold back laughs, leaving him very red faced. This amused Ron, who also had to hold back from laughing himself.

It was good to have friends.

* * *

Severus was reading his latest edition of 'Magic Science Journal' in his office when Albus burst in uninvited. He continued to read as if undisturbed.

"Severus, you need to explain."

Severus looked up, "Explain what?"

Albus started glaring at him, "Why is Harry Evans your son? He is a splitting image of you and he also has similar resistances to certain spells that he could not have gotten from anyone else."

Severus acted indifferently, "Albus, I had no idea. I thought you would have picked it up before I did. You saw Harry as a baby, did you not?"

"She and James were always just friends. Lily said her child's father was a Death Eater. She also said that she Harry was created out of loneliness and despair rather than love for the father."

"It could have been worse. It could have been Malfoy or Nott. They were also Lily's clients."

Albus frowned and stroked his beard. It was not turning out to be a good start to the year. Their latest suspicions as to who was trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone were still pointing to Quirrell. That was just because he was a new teacher, not because there was any real evidence against him yet.

"Severus, you do know what this means for our plans. You cannot have a relationship to Harry other than being his teacher."

"I doubt the Dark Lord will truly care. There are many Death Eaters who have fathered children of muggles through rape or prostitution, not to mentions those who had affairs with witches of various blood statuses. Tom actually sees it as 'purifying the blood of wizards' and 'creating more wizards.' I found out long ago that he had fathered numerous children this way himself. In his younger years at least."

Albus shook his head, Severus knew it wasn't a fact that he wanted to acknowledge but had to. He himself had taught young witches and wizards who were born out of such unions. It was sad, but the vast majority of them had gone on to become perfectly normal and functional members of magic society. Most were unaware of their fathers.

"But you are the father of Harry Evans, Tom's enemy. You can't expect to get away from it."

Severus breathed sadly, "I know. It is the best reason as to why I should protect him. I want to be a father he can be proud of, even if he will never know it."

* * *

_A/N: Thank you for the alerts, favourites and reviews. Tell me what you think. Also thank you for adding this story to a community. ~Allie_


	8. Not Forgiven

_October 1976_

When he was sixteen, Severus would regularly hide away behind a tree near the Forbidden Forest instead of going inside the castle. It was here that he would spend many hours studying, reading or just daydreaming. It was a lovely place that was isolated from the rest of the world around him. He would do nothing else but watch the autumn leaves fall all around him.

He needed to get away from the world at that point of his life. It wasn't long ago that his mother had died, Lily had ended their friendship and the Marauders had given him the ultimate humiliation.

"I never would have found you here if I hadn't been following you all this time. You are really good at hiding."

Severus quickly jumped and took out his wand. It was James Potter.

"What the fuck do you want?!"

"Nothing. I just want to say something."

Severus could tell that there was definitely something amiss with him. His usual arrogance was absent. There was a strange look in his eye; it looked like a mixture of gentleness and sadness. His gang and admirers were not with him.

"What?!" Severus demanded, "Tell me before I hex you."

"Sniv – Severus, Lily told me that your mother died around last Christmas and that your dad is gone as well."

Severus was saddened but he kept his composure. He had hoped that Lily would have kept this a secret from everyone else but since they were no longer friends he guessed that she didn't have any more loyalty to him.

"Well, I've just found out that my parents are going to die soon," Potter continued, "It's not a surprise at their age but still, I'm quite distraught at the prospect of becoming an orphan. I'm only sixteen and they're my only family. I was thinking that I now have at least someone to relate to."

'_Relate to.'_ These words started ringing in Severus' head. He wasn't even sure whether it was really Potter who had said them.

Severus began to seethe through his teeth. How dare Potter say that he could relate to his problems. Potter had been treated like a prince all his life. He had an easy life full of friends and admirers. He had money and talent that other people recognised. He was an arrogant bully who took delight in tormenting others weaker than him. He had absolutely no idea about his life.

Never the less, Potter continued, "Looking back, I was rather unkind to you over all these years. I hope you have it in your heart to forgive me. I'm sorry."

Potter scratched his head and waited for Severus to respond. For the first time, Potter's hazel eyes met Severus' dark ones and were equal. Severus just glared at him for a moment, unsure how to react. He wanted to put Potter in his place and give back some kind of smart retort but no words would come out of his mouth.

'_I'm sorry.'_ He had said those words as if they had the power to undo five whole years of cruelty and resentment. They didn't. Not at all. There was no forgiveness in Severus' heart for Potter or for anyone else for that matter. His lonely, painful life had left his insides feeling colder than ice.

Before Potter could even blink he was struck by one of Severus' newly invented curses. It was a knockback jinx combined with a confusion hex. It was simple but effective and Potter would be out cold for hours.

Then he just fled, knowing that he would have to find a new hiding place. Potter may have won the war long ago but Severus still had enough courage to keep at least one dignity:

He never wanted Potter to see him cry.

* * *

Harry was delighted to know that he could spend Christmas at Hogwarts. He was even more delighted to know that he wouldn't be alone as Ron would be staying too. His parents were going to Romania to visit his older brother Charlie. Hermione however, would be seeing her parents.

Harry woke up on Christmas day not expecting to receive any gifts of any kind. There would be no presents as usual but at least he wouldn't have to eat another one of his aunt's wilted salads, the fowl crackling that she made or listen to Aunt Marge talk about her dogs.

"Harry!" Ron yelled at the top of his lungs, "Wake up! We've got presents!"

"Presents? For me?" Harry said doubtfully, he had never received many good presents in his life.

"Of course there is, it's Christmas! Duh!" Ron rolled his eyes, "These are yours."

Harry turned to see two packages for him and a letter. There was also a large pile of sweets from admirers but he wasn't as interested in them, he would eat them later. He decided to open the letter first. It was from Hagrid wishing him a Merry Christmas. Enclosed was a quarter that he had collected from the Dursleys when he visited them. He gave the coin to Ron, whose father had a fascination with muggle artefacts. He would have to send Hagrid a letter back thanking him for the Christmas wishes and to tell him that making the Dursleys send him something was more effort that what it was worth.

Harry then picked up the first parcel. It was something soft inside, presumably an item of clothes but he was excited to receive something.

"Oh!" Ron said when he was about to open it, "You might not want to open that, it's from Mum. She makes one for each of us every Christmas. She hasn't even met you and already considers you a part of the family."

Harry opened it to find a knitted maroon jumper with a bright yellow letter 'H' in the front. It wasn't his colour, he hated the itchy feel of wool and it was far too big for him. However none of that mattered, his smiled at the sight of it. It had meant something more to Harry than Ron would realise. The woman had taken her time to knit him something out of kindness and because he was Ron's friend, not because he was famous. He didn't hesitate to put it on.

"I'll have to thank your mother for this. It's wonderful. I love it to pieces."

"She'll be pleased to hear that."

His next present was a bit more enigmatic. It was also soft but it looked too big to be an item of clothes. There was also no sender, only a note that said 'You inherited this when a wealthy man died in the hope that he would be forgiven for the mistakes he had made in his life. It is time it was given to you.'

"What does that mean? Who?"

Harry shook his head, "No clue."

Inside was a silvery, majestic piece of cloth. It felt softer than velvet when he ran his fingers through it. He could see intricate patterns woven through it.

"I know what that is!" Ron exclaimed, "An invisibility cloak - they're really rare. Try it on."

When he wrapped the cloak over his body the rest of him completely disappeared. It was exactly what he wanted his entire life – something that could render him invisible.

"Wow!" was all that Harry could say, he was lost for words. This was already the best Christmas he had ever had.

His mind was quickly beginning to think of plans, particularly plans to try and find out about Nicholas Flamel. There were also the pranks he could play on other students, particularly Draco Malfoy.

They had gone on to eating all the sweets they had been given and joking around.

_Tap, Tap, Tap. Caw. Caw._

They unexpectedly turned around to find a crow sitting at the windowsill. It looked like it was carrying something.

"A crow?" inquired Harry, "I didn't know you could send things by crow."

"Hmm… I haven't heard of anyone being sent anything by crow other than a death notification," said Ron, "People who send presents or general letters by crow are really quite odd but that's according to Mum."

"We better see what it is and who it is for."

They opened up the window to let the crow in. With unusual strength for a bird its size, it lifted a stack of five books packaged together by string into the room. Ron picked up a piece of parchment placed at the top.

"It's for you Harry."

"For real?"

Ron handed him the card and written in typewriter font was 'To Harry Evans.' That was all, there was no clue as to who the giver was or wishing of Merry Christmas.

"They are quite odd," Ron concluded based on this.

Harry however took one look at the stack of books and gasped with excitement. Somebody had known exactly what books he had wanted, all the latest edition of series he was reading. He had no idea as to who would have known him so well. It was a very thoughtful (though creepily intrusive) gesture.

"They are exactly what I've been saving up my money for when I was with the Dursleys."

"Who do you think would know?"

"I don't know, I've never told anyone. Is it possible to read minds in the wizarding world?"

"I don't know."

_Caw._

They turned to realise that the crow was still there. An owl would have flown away a while ago. It crooked its head at them and looked at them in a pleased way that Harry thought was impossible for birds to mimic. Ron began to shoo it away. It promptly flew out of the window and disappeared into the snowy sky.

* * *

_A/N: I don't believe in bashing of characters. Well, not in Harry Potter as I can see how they all relate to the storyline (a character like Jar Jar Binks on the other hand...). I would really love at least one good review. I know that this story gets a fair few visitors but I want to know if I am writing it well, badly or just meh. Suggestions are welcome as are grammar improvements._


	9. Mirror of Erised

Hogwarts at night was very different to Hogwarts during the day. The usual enigmatic and mystical vibrance that was present during daylight was replaced by something more sinister. It was as if the place was engulfed by dark menacing shadow. Harry felt like the castle had slowly accumulated deep, dark secrets over the centuries.

He now regretted his decision to skip out of bed to try and find information about Nicolas Flamel in the restricted section in the library. So far he had only picked up a book that had started screaming at him as soon as he opened it, which attracted the likes of Argus Filtch. Filtch had the pleasure of patrolling the corridors at night, making sure that there were no students out of bed. Harry had managed to avoid him by slim chance and not to mention invisibility.

As he made his way through the corridors at night, he was struggling not to trip over his invisibility cloak. In his attempt to avoid Filtch, he had become lost. He was now in an odd room that only contained a large mirror. Curiosity drew him further to have a closer look.

It was old and dusty like everything else in the unused classroom. Prompted against the wall, it looked like something that didn't belong there; something that was merely placed here to be put out of the way. Inscribed on the top of the frame was; '_Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi'_. It was like another language but of what language he had no idea, maybe it was just gibberish.

What he saw in the mirror was more captivating. Standing beside him was a beautiful young woman with long red hair and green eyes the same as his. Her face lit up when she saw him, as if she couldn't get enough of the sight of him, but she seemed so sad. It was as if life had been hard on her and broken her spirit. His heart raced, he was seeing his mother for the first time - he hadn't even seen pictures of her. She was covered in black from head to toe, dressed sensibly and eccentric. She didn't look like a prostitute at all, just different. His aunt was doubtless lying about her all this time.

On the other side of him was another woman, she seemed to be middle aged or just looked older because she wasn't very beautiful. She was dark haired and had a sullen look on her face. She was also extremely pleased to see him and was crying a little out of happiness. Harry assumed that she was either an aunt or other female relative of his father's side of the family. Perhaps she was his grandmother but had died young.

There were also an older couple who looked like they could have been his muggle grandparents. His grandfather and grandmother were wearing clothes commonplace for the seventies. They were also happy to see him - his grandmother was even nodding her head in approval. They looked like lovely, friendly people. He remembered Aunt Petunia mentioning that her parents died in a car accident. Whether this was true or not was questionable, she did lie about his mother's death.

He spent hours just looking at them, wishing that his dead family would be alive with him on the other side of the mirror and not merely looking in. Never-the-less, he returned back to the Gryffindor common room to sleep when he felt too tired.

* * *

The next night Harry took Ron to see the mirror.

"Do you see them? Do you see my family?" Harry said with excitement.

Ron just stood there with his mouth open.

"No, I'm alone. But I'm different - I'm head boy."

"_What_?"

"I am – I'm wearing the badge like Bill use to and I'm holding both the House Cup and Quidditch Cup too. I'm the Quidditch captain! Harry, do you think this mirror shows the future?"

"How can it? My family is dead."

* * *

The night after that Harry went to the mirror again, though alone. He couldn't get enough of seeing his family. His mother was pleased to see him back and the sullen woman brightened up merely at the sight of him. There was nothing to stop him spending the entire night here. Nothing at all.

"So – back again Harry?

Harry jolted and turned to find Albus Dumbledore standing behind him. He had never quite seen the headmaster in his entire entirety. His long robes and long silvery beard reminded Harry of the typical wizards of fairytales, fantasy novels and cartoons.

"How did you come here? I didn't see you come in." Harry inquired.

"Strange how near-sighted being invisible can make you," Dumbledore stated ambiguously, "There are other ways of becoming invisible."

"Professor Dumbledore, what does this mirror do?"

"I'll give you a clue - the happiest man in the world would look into the mirror and see nothing but his own reflection."

"So it shows us our desires?"

Dumbledore nodded, "It shows nothing more and nothing less than the deepest desires of our hearts. This mirror show neither truth nor fact. Men have wasted away before it, not knowing if what they have seen is real, or even possible. Many have gone mad.

"That is why the Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, and I ask you not to go looking for it again. If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

Harry thought about this, it seemed profound. It was a while before Harry spoke again.

"Sir, I don't see any father or grandfather in this picture. Was James Potter really my father?"

"No," Dumbledore said gently, "He is not your father but don't worry about that. It is the heart that what makes real family, not nature. Your living family have not made much contribution to your life - so far."

Harry instantly understood what he meant, "Sir, I'm really sorry to have to ask you this, but was my mother really a whore?"

Dumbledore shook his head, "Your mother was one of the bravest women I've ever had the privilege of knowing. She was wonderful, pure and took excellent care of the people she loved."

To an eleven year old Harry, this meant that his mother was not what he feared. There was a small silence, a good and comforting silence. He was pleased to know that Dumbledore was not angry with him.

"Professor?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"What do you see when you look in the mirror?"

Dumbledore looked at him and smiled, "I see myself holding a new pair of socks. I never get any new socks, people always insist on giving my books. Now I think it is time for you to go to back."

* * *

_A/N: I know you all might be irritated with me for not revealing to Harry that Snape is his father. I've decided to leave that for later. Please be patience. I don't want to reveal it so early. So far, all Harry really knows is that Potter is not his father. The reason why Snape is not seen is because Harry wants to see his dead relatives rather than his living ones (aka The Dursleys). It goes back to his childhood wish of wanting an unknown relative to whisk him away from the Dursleys. (That's just what I've made up to explain myself.) You all can probably figure out who the sullen looking lady is. There aren't too many other relatives, especially on Severus' side of the family. His Severus' mother was estranged from her pureblood fanatic relatives and his father had nothing to do with his life and therefore nothing to do with Harry's._

_I tried to make this chapter as close to the novels as possible. Thank you for reading - reviews, follows and favourites are always welcome. _


	10. Doe and Crow

_December 1981_

Severus trudged slowly through the snow, step by heavy step he made his way. The Russian muggles that passed him on the streets seemed to be accustomed to the brutal weather around them. Winter had claimed the streets of Moscow as her own.

Severus paid no attention to the weather; he was so deep in thought. After Lily's death Albus suggested that he travelled around the world for a couple of years, as it was normal for young British wizards to do after leaving Hogwarts. However, due to his current circumstances his travels had been a nightmare. Travelling had only reminded him how alone he was in such a big, complex world. A sheer reminder that he was lost in the world with no one to love or be loved by.

'_Why did I choose to come to Russia first?_ _I should have started with Brazil, Africa, Thailand, Australia or Mexico. Somewhere warm and bright.'_ Severus thought, although it was obviously too late to rectify it now.

Quickly, something caught his eye. It was a store with a large, bright purple sign. Severus brought out his translator parchment and within seconds, small letters formed into _'Madame Marishka Morokova's Fortune Telling._' It seemed to have a highly effective muggle repellent spell protecting it. Its brightly coloured displays of glistening windows, chimes that did not freeze in the current weather and eccentric style failed to gain the attention of muggles.

Severus was intrigued. It was a place completely out of the blue. He slowly made his way towards it, slowly opened the door and stepped inside. It was dark inside except for a few candles. It sold potion ingredients and crystals. There was a woman sitting at the table. She looked old enough for Severus to mistake her for a hag. He didn't need to see the crystal ball on the table to know that she was a seer waiting for a customer – she just had a way about her.

"Hello," She said in Russian, Severus had just put in his translation earpiece, "Would you like to have your fortune told? You look like a young man who needs guidance."

Severus thought about this for a minute. He was sceptical of things involving divination and 'seeing the future.' He had never taken the subject at school and after he was as foolish enough to tell Voldemort about the 'prophecy' Sybill Trelawney had said in The Hog's Head, he was even more distrusting of such things. He thought that telling her prophecy would place in good favour, when it ended up killing the woman he loved. Not only that, he discovered that Trelawney was a fraud – she did not inherit her famous ancestor's skills as she liked to claim.

Even if he wasn't sceptical, did he really want to know what his future had in store for him? His life prospects had already gone down the drain.

However, curiosity drew him closer and he eventually gave in. Even if she was an old fraud, at least he would have experienced at least one thing interesting in Russia.

"Yes, I would like to have my fortune told," He said bluntly.

"Ok," she gleamed at him with observant eyes, "I can already tell just by looking at you that you have experienced a hard life. It has made you a very bitter man. A man who sees life as various shades of mundane and now only cares about himself and what he lost."

Severus was already starting to feel uncomfortable and wanted to leave.

"However," her eyes averted her glowing crystal ball, "I see that the worst is over now."

"Really?" Severus raised his eyebrows, "Continue – tell me my future."

"I will only tell you what you really need to know about your future, there are things you will need to discover on your own. I see study in your immediate future and new friends. I see lots of women but you will use them only for enjoyment. I also see a child. You will make it your duty to protect this child from harm for the rest of your life to help undo the damage you have already done on the world and for … other reasons. Your position in the war will be of utmost importance in deciding the outcome of the future of the whole nation."

Severus smirked unhappily. He placed a few galleons in her tipping cup as payment. She was doing well so far, so he let her continue.

"Now I want to look into your past to see how it has affected your future. I see a doe, a female deer. She was beautiful in mind, body and soul. In the beginning she began a friendship with a crow. They were both young and too naïve to know where forces beyond their control would lead them. She did not know how much the crow loved her."

As Severus looked into the glowing crystal ball himself, he could see a doe and a crow together as fog shapes.

"As they grew, the world around them pulled the pair in different directions. A stag also became jealous of the friendship that doe had with the crow as he loved her too. He was charming, popular with his peers and use to getting everything his own way. The doe had no interest in the stag, despite being perceived as an ideal match.

"Faced with a war, there came a time when they had to part ways forever. The doe blighted by misfortune and forced into doing lowly things, still followed the path of good and lived as a spy. However the crow, enticed by the path of evil made bad decisions. The doe lived in pain and when the crow came back again for her, to try and save her, her troubles had already eaten her up on the inside and she could not love. It was already too late. She died as the result of the crow's foolishness because he was trying to please a false master. The crow will never forgive himself, he had learnt his lesson in the most cruel way.."

Severus did not know what to make of this. It distressed him but he kept a poker face and let the woman continue. He watched as the woman's face change into a more serious expression, it looked all too familiar. Her blue eyes faded to become cloudy orbs and some fog escaped her lips. The crystal ball began to change from while to blood red and the table started shaking violently.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. Born to a spy in summertime… the Dark Lord will mark the child as his equal, but they will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…"

It was then that Severus ran out of the seer's store in fear. He drudged through the snow as fast as he could, eager to get away. He would leave Russia later that afternoon with no desire to return. He decided there and then that Dumbledore was right about something – there were branches of magic that were never meant to be meddled with. Like life and death, love, the essence of soul and other mysteries, time was also something that dangerous to fool around with.

* * *

"Thank you Severus, for showing me this memory," Albus told him as they came out of the pensieve, "This solidifies everything I know. It is now more important than ever to have a plan."

"You're welcome."

"I understand why it took you so long to reveal this to me."

Albus summoned Severus' memory with his want and placed it back into its flask. Severus was glad to get rid of the memory.

* * *

_A/N: Thanks for sticking with me. I swear this will be the last memory of Snape's for a while. Any errors just tell me._


	11. Christmas With The Malfoys

Boring Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe. Nor am I even close to being as talented as JK Rowling. I do however own this fanfic and the story I am creating based on the elements of the Harry Potter universe. I own all OCs in this story including my recreation of Harry Potter, Harry Evans.

I haven't updated in a while. Things happen in my life, I've been a busy student and laptops die. Not that any of it concerns you. If I give up on stories I always delete them and this one obviously isn't because you are reading it right now.

Oh, parts in this chapter are important for later on. I hope Snape's reflection in this one isn't too boring - but it is important.

* * *

Christmas lunch at the Malfoy Residence was extravagant, typically adorned with the best of everything. As he came through the front gate, there were animated flying angels and Christmas orbs that glowed like muggle Christmas lights. The caroling music accompanying the decorations were enough to make Severus raise his eyebrows. It was all over the top. That wasn't surprising, what was surprising though was the amount of buttering they were giving him – even just inviting him to their house was an honour. As their son had just started school, Narcissa and Lucius looked as though they were determined to make sure their son's stay there as comfortable as possible. This obviously included making sure that he would be on the good side of his teachers. As if he needed it. The spoilt brat was already a notorious bully, especially towards his own son. Like most of the dudderbrained youth he taught, a good punishment and discipline was what the boy needed.

"Oh Severus," Narcissa graciously opened the front door to him with a sickly sweet smile, "I'm so glad you could come! I'm sure that there is a lot that you could tell us."

He noticed that she was wearing a stylish purple dress with her hair done and extensive makeup. She was pretty but her snobbish manners were off-putting. She quickly scoffed at his black robes; normally she would refuse to allow anyone poorly dressed into his house. However, being an eccentric professor allowed him to get away with all sorts of behaviour that other people didn't.

"Greetings Narcissa, I hope you are well. I see you have decorated you house rather nicely," Severus said, this was a genuine complement – their house was nice.

Narcissa raised her eyebrow smugly, subtly delighted to be complemented, "Well I'm glad you appreciate aesthetic beauty. It took our house elf ten days to complete, we had to prod him into doing it perfectly."

Lucius, Macnair and Nott came to greet him warmly. He was an old comrade after all.

Lucius smiled, "Hello old Severus, it has been so long."

"Hello Lucius, I have brought something to help celebrate," Severus reached into his bag to bring out a small box of chocolates, "I had a suspicion that you would like these."

"Oh, Severus you shouldn't have! That's so kind." Lucius gasped, it was customary to bring something to the house of an old pureblood family as respect. Lucius acted as if he did not know that Severus easily used legilimency to see what he wanted him to bring. The man liked to believe in the delusion that people simply gave him what he wanted because they liked him, not because of his status, power and bullying.

The rest of the evening was filled with talking. Draco spent the evening talking to Theodore Nott and only came to say hello to the guests when his parents prompted him. Severus noticed that the boy was a lot less arrogant under the eyes of his parents and happier talking to Theodore than to his two unintelligent school cronies. Narcissa spent the evening talking to her snobbish friends about fashion and other high society topics. A poor house elf spent the evening running around as a single server with either Narcissa or Lucius threatening him through glares or kicks. Severus was never a drinker, however the others had a strong affinity for alcohol and were drunk towards the night's end.

"Severus, if you have to cut off a giants head to have as a decorative ornament, how would you go about it?" said Macnair, ever the violent one.

"Why would I want to do that? That would be a stupid thing to do but of course it would be something you would attempt," Severus said with his most sarcastic tone, they would be too drunk to care or remember what he said to them. They all laughed, even Macnair.

"It wouldn't make a nice decoration either," Lucius added distastefully, "Even if you did succeed."

Macnair continued, "You see, as part of a giant initiation ritual I have to slaughter a giant of a neighbouring enemy tribe and create a shrine out of it. I reckon it would be amusing, even if it is absolutely ugly."

Nott commented with the rolling of his eyes, "Well, you're not a giant, Walden. You just share bloodthirsty tendencies. Just stick to doing the one thing you can do well - killing things for The Ministry."

This talk continued all night. Macnair's violent tendencies always left Severus with a bad taste in the mouth. Lucius was snobbish but tolerable and at least had enough wit for a decent conversation. Nott was probably the most pleasant out of the three of them, but even his remarks about muggle borns were disdainful. Severus was eventually quite glad to leave by the end of it all.

* * *

Christmas had come and gone for Severus like it had for every other year of his life: lonely and disappointing. As usual, he would watch as the majority of the students went back home to their happy families – the feeling of missing out didn't disappear when he became an adult. It was also the time of year that his mother decided to die. Until now, she was the only family he had ever really had.

It was different knowing that he now had a son but he could not tell him and he could not celebrate with him. So it was just as lonely as if he was without any kind of family. It was worth to see the look on Harry's face when he saw the gift he had brought him. Severus hoped he would associate the crow with the giving of gifts in years to come.

His Christmas Day at The Malfoy Residence with Lucius and other Death Eaters was dull. He no longer feared being exposed and betrayed by them. Over the years he came to the realization that behind their fervent worship was really nothing. They were all either pureblood fanatics who feared change, sadistic brutes and a few lost loners like himself. The Dark Lord was merely the leader that had united them into action for the common values that they shared.

At first, he insanely feared being discovered knowing what happened to Dumbledore's former spies. There were countless Death Eaters who simply went missing and never mentioned again. He presumed that many had got cold feet or were killed by the enemy but there was the possibility of spies. The difference being that the Dark Lord would go into a fit of rage if their name was mentioned again. He only really remembered three others.

He remembered a woman called Cadavera Grey; she was an odd witch who used body parts from inferi to form special potions. Considering her pureblood heritage and talent for dark magic, it was a total shock when she was uncovered as a spy. Severus watched her withstand the cruciatus curse until she was nothing more than a bloodied blob splattered everywhere. He came to believe that it was her death that ultimately enabled him to see thestrals. After that, her three adult sons (none of which were Death Eaters) left the country and as far as he knew, never returned. He personally did not believe that Cadavera was a spy, she was a witch with such prestigious skill in the Dark Arts but when he asked Dumbledore about this he shook his head in grief.

'_She was one of my best spies, Cadavera. It was a terrible, terrible way for her to die.'_

'_So, she was a spy. Why?'_

Dumbledore just glared at him, _'Despite appearances she was never an evil person, Severus. Like you she felt regret for the bad things she had done in her life. She was willing to put her life on the line for a better future, for her sons and for everyone.'_

The other dead spy he had known was Grace-Kelly Riddle. Tragically, she was the Dark Lord's own daughter and had survived a nightmarish childhood with her own father. Severus knew Grace-Kelly at Hogwarts; she was only a year above him and also in Slytherin. He remembered her as a shy dark haired girl who had nervous tics. He also remembered that she had only ever had one friend during school, a blonde girl who ended up being killed because she refused to join the Death Eaters. He only ever had a few conversations with her:

'_Grace-Kelly? Isn't that the name of a muggle actress?'_

'_Why, yes it is,'_ She said with a passive, snobbish tone, '_It was what my mother called me. I like it a lot._'

Whether her actions as a spy were motivated by a longstanding hatred for her father or altruism he never knew, Dumbledore never told him. Her betrayal had caused the Dark Lord to lose a considerable about of reliance (who could honestly say that he trusted his minions?) on the Death Eaters. He didn't know how she had died but Pyrite and Avery, who were present at her murder, became very pale at the next mentioning of her.

Only he and another had lived after the Dark Lord's downfall to tell the tale. She was also a daughter of the Dark Lord, something he didn't consider coincidence. Ironically, out of all of the Dark Lord's children none of them became Death Eaters. Her name was Celeste Holstone, however she had married a man in secret but did not take his name. Her mother, Jupiter Holstone, was almost an older clone of Bellatrix Lestrange – married to a man she had a platonic relationship with, psychotic and devastatingly beautiful. The only differences were that Holstone actually attracted the Dark Lord and eventually was killed by aurors (to the relief of many).

Celeste became Dumbledore's main source of information during the height of his reign. She was cleverer than most traitors; it was only when she had a child that she had asked Dumbledore to resign. Her daughter was a year younger than Harry and eerily also matched the prophecy. If she had been known before hand, maybe it would have been that family to have died and not Lily. This girl was the only one of his known descendants to have inherited parselmouth.

Celeste died in an accident unrelated to her spy activities, leaving her nine year old daughter and unknowing husband behind.

4568746785423235423452345234 5

Harry had quickly finished all the books that had been given to him by a stranger over Christmas as well as used his new invisibility cloak to sneak around. Harry had a burning desire to discover the identity of his mysterious present giver, though only slightly more that the whole Philosopher's Stone theory.

Potions class began as per usual, with most of the non-Slytherin students dragging themselves inside for another unwanted encounter with Professor Snape. Neville Longbottom made an effort to sit around him, Hermione and Ron as a safety precaution. The Gryffindor students attempting to

"Harry, do you think a fan would have sent you those books?" Hermione whispered, still trying to gather ideas as to who his secret gift giver was.

"Jeez, I hope not! It would be nice and stuff, but overly creepy. I might have ended Voldemort's reign but I was only a baby for goodness sakes - it's not something I set out to do. Also, the person who sent me these must have known that I didn't really have a family. They must have known me well."

She thought about this, "Do you think it might have been Dumbledore?"

"Dumbledore would never have a crow," Ron said, very unchanged in his position about this, "That would be just weird. Whoever this is both a weird person and knows Harry _really_ well. Maybe they can read minds."

"Anyway," Harry was hoping to continue this subject at another time without so many ears around them, "Do you think we should help Hagrid in regards to his current problem?"

To the trio's horror, Hagrid had hatched a dragon's egg. It was a Norwegian Ridgeback he christened Norbert. Now the young hatchling was growing too big and he had to get rid of it.

"Well, we kinda have to? Don't we?" Ron whispered with a worried look, "I mean; my brother really is the only person who can help him."

"I really hope he doesn't set my robe on fire." Harry said with a frown; they knew he wasn't talking about just any 'robe.' They had to sneak out under the invisibility cloak at night to sort this out – something that would get them into a lot of trouble if caught.

The door to Snape's office burst open and out stepped Snape, obviously in a fouler mood than usual. His black eyes were more piercing. His black hair was greasier than usual and there was the smell of overcooked potion on him.

The entire class fell silent. They all feared what Snape was going to do and say to them. For whatever reason, he was unhappy and was going to take his anger out on them. Harry had the suspicion that one of his potions went terribly wrong.

"Class," his voice was snide but not loud, "Time to take out homework."

Harry, Ron and Hermione had completed theirs but Harry quickly noticed that Neville's was only partially completed. He probably had trouble understanding it.

He turned around the class starting with Lavender Brown.

"Why is your homework not completed?"

Lavender was slow to answer; she just looked up at him shyly with her cheeks turned pink.

"…B-b-b-because my family has been busy with my g-grandmother dying lately. That's w-w-why I haven't completed most of my homework for this semester…"

"Well, your grandmother can only die once. I will not take that as an excuse – 65 points from Gryffindor."

Lavender started crying. Snape paid no attention to this and merely continued checking the class, some of which had previously learnt the hard way about not doing potions homework. Snape stalked though the classroom like a rabid wolf ready to snap. He passed students quickly skimming though their work. He passed some without a word and others he merely shook his head. He nodded at Draco Malfoy's and another Slytherin boy. Harry was pleased when Crabbe and Goyle received detention. When he passed Harry and Hermione he muttered something on the lines of 'Good work.'

He stopped at Neville, who was hunched over his paper like a turtle hiding in its shell.

"Neville Longbottom, let me see your work."

Neville reluctantly pulled out the paper for Snape to see.

Snape frowned and muttered, "Tutt, Tutt, Tutt. I gave all of you an extra week to complete your assignment and you present this. You failed, but of course, that can be expected from you."

This made Harry upset, "Well he did complete some of it. He just had trouble understanding it, that's no reason to be so mean to him. Stop being a bully."

The whole class gasped, believing that Harry was done for. Snape's pale face turned bright red.

"Well, Mr Evans you have earned yourself a week of detentions - starting here tomorrow afternoon."

There was another gasp from the class. Snape had never given anyone (not in first year) a week's worth of detentions before. The idea of one detention from him was traumatic enough; he didn't even give Neville detentions. Harry realised that he would have to stop standing up for Neville if he didn't want more trouble than he already had. He couldn't help it though.

After that, Snape continued the lesson as if nothing ever happened. Leaving Harry thinking there was much more to Snape than what reached the eye. There was something about him that had an effect on the sarcastic, moody professor.


	12. Detention with Snape

It was late afternoon and Severus remembered that he had to reorganise the room for detention. He would have preferred to keep on working on his new experimental alternative Wolfsbane potion but students had to be punished. He didn't take cheek from any of them.

With a no more than a swish of his hand, the smoke that had seeped out of his cauldron and into the classroom instantly dissipated. A second wave of his wand made the classroom more organised and got rid of any bits of rubbish or vandalism on desks. Pieces of used Waddley's Wibblegum stuck under desks were removed. Severus believed that students grew more and more disgusting as time went by.

Pieces of parchment also materialised on the desks with quills and ink beside them. He made sure that there were exactly three pieces of paper for each of the seven students that had detention. They would have to write lines of course, usually related to what rule they had broken.

He would be glad once this detention was over; he wanted to go back to what he was doing…. But there was more to it. He didn't want to deal with Harry in detention.

The boy was turning out to be a rebel. His protection of Neville Longbottom took Severus completely by surprise. His mother would have done something similar. It was in her nature to look after people.

It was four thirty - time for detention but he expected most of them to be late. Typical.

Eloise Midgen was the first to arrive, eager to get her detention over and done with. She was obviously afraid of him – she rarely looked at his face, hardly if ever spoke in class and stirred her small pewter cauldron warily. She was here because the essay she was supposed to have written about healing potions was very unsatisfactory. A typical detention for a Hufflepuff.

Harry came in without a word. He was wide-eyed; he obviously hadn't been in this much trouble with a teacher before. He looked unsure of what to do. His bright eyes met Severus' for a moment and in a glimpse he could see that the detention was unfair. It was unlikely that Severus would be his favourite teacher. He looked at the papers in front of him and frowned.

"Sir, do I have to fill out all the four pages of lines?"

"Yes, Evans. You and Midgen can start now. Midgen, I want you to write on this piece of paper all you actually know on healing potions. Evans, you have to complete your homework here."

Eloise frowned in distain. Harry shrugged; it's what he would have done with his afternoon anyway.

Shortly after came Chrysanthemum Selwyn. He could hear her coming down the stairwell to the Dungeons as she had a habit of talking to people as she walked by. Severus had given her a week's detention for being her usual rowdy and loud self. She was always experimenting with fashion. Today she had blaring magenta hair and sky blue eye shadow. Just looking at her gave him a headache.

Severus gave her instructions to do four pages of 'I must not scream and yell in class like a Cornish pixie being strangled.' He stormed over to his desk and sat down. He was determined to ignore her and her loud, boisterous ways.

Chrysanthemum sat in the desk besides Harry. She instantly turned to Harry, "Hi Harry, I'm Chrystie Selwyn – fifth year. Pleased to meet you. I see you sitting in the common room reading or with your friends from time to time. Snape rarely gives firsties detention. You must have pissed him off something shocking. How'd ya get here?"

"Oh, I just stood up for my friend. He didn't like that."

He watched the girl smile. The Gryffindor house supported this kind of behaviour of each other. It really was appalling. He didn't want Harry in their house.

"Well I never. Good on you. Snape's an old …"

"Silence Chrysanthemum! Harry – get back to work."

He could see Chrysanthemum shake her head and place her head down. Harry did the same.

It was a couple of minutes before the late arrivals came. Willow Whatley waltzed in unaware that she was late. Severus was convinced that her body clock was set half an hour late. Long ago back when she was a first year he had decided that Willow was a strange girl, even for a Ravenclaw. She was a silent, absorbed girl whose mind was always buzzing with ideas and stories. Her only saving grace was that she had just enough intelligence to pass her exams. She sat down behind Chrysanthemum and started to do her usual lines, this time it was because she failed to hand in a few essays. It wasn't long before Willow started humming to herself. It was a queer, aimless tune that one would have expected from a small child.

Then came the deliberately lates. The Weasley twins came in followed by a hopeless Hufflepuff misfit that was such a wallflower that he did not even bother trying to remember his name. There was the spirit of usual apathy and detestation about them that they reserved for his detentions.

"Hey, What's Harry doing here?" Asked one of the red haired boys.

"He's only a boy, goodness gracious professor." Said the other.

"Silence, both of you. Now get to your lines."

The boys did as he said. Within a couple of minutes of watching the children, his mind wandered elsewhere. His thought returned to Quirrell, he had been paranoid about the man all day. The man was a pathetic wimp. He was supposed to have been an excellent student in the Defense Against the Dark Arts but apparently theory did not translate to practical experience. Yet, Severus felt that there was something sinister about the man. It was only once he took up the post that there had been threats towards the stone's placement in the third corridor. Dumbledore had been right to take the stone out of Gringott's. Knowing Voldemort's pathological fear of death, Severus knew that the Dark Lord would pursue any method possible of achieving everlasting immortality.

It wasn't long before Eloise Midgen came up to him with her paper. He skim read it with the usual apathy that he reserved for reading student's work. It was of acceptable standard. He looked up at the awkward pimply-faced teenage girl with a shrug.

"This is acceptable. I accept this kind of work in the future."

Eloise simpered and went back to her desk to collect her things. She was smarted than she thought she was. She didn't hesitate to leave.

One of the Weasley twins looked up.

"Sir," He said confused, "But why is Harry here? He didn't do anything wrong."

Severus replied in his usual snide way, "That is not really of any of your concern, is it?"

Chrysanthemum joined in, "Yeah, it's not fair that he gets detention. He's only 11."

He turned to see Harry looking up to him. He looked like he was proud to have the older students stand up for him as he did for Neville.

"In case you haven't noticed, life isn't fair. Now get back to your work."

"But it can be," said the Hufflepuff boy.

"Besides, we've already finished," Said Chrysanthemum, and she brought out her parchment. Surely enough, there were the lines 'I must not be unspeakably rude in class and must listen to my professor' written on the pages. She couldn't have completed it all during the time she was here.

He looked straight into her eyes and saw that she and the others in his detention had come up with a plan. They would right lines before the detention, hide it in their sleeves, replace it with the blank bits of parchment and give it to him. He had a feeling Harry's new found friend Ronald Weasley, had told his brothers about the detention.

Usually he would have made up a spiteful threat, but he didn't. Not because he was ashamed to be beaten by them, he didn't really care about that, but because he didn't want Harry to see him as a brute or an enemy. He would not win the battle this time.

"If you have finished your paper you can leave. Harry has to stay behind."

To his surprise all of the older students got up and left. Even Willow.

"I hope he doesn't hurt Harry," Chrysanthemum muttered to the twins.

One of the twins shook his head, "I don't think he will."

They all left to leave Harry alone with him. Severus didn't know what to say to him or really what to do. Harry just sat there looking back at him with a mixture of fear and confusion as to what he would do next. He put a hand to the side of his face to look at him in a pensive way, he expected his professor to do something.

He used small opportunities to find more about the boy with Legimency. He was a bright boy with a powerful sense of morality and justice. He was as good natured as his mother had been. It was her blessing of love that had protected him mentally against the neglect of the Dursleys' as well as shielded him physically away from the Dark Lord. Severus hated Lily's muggle sister Petunia from the moment he set eyes on her when they were children, but he did not imagine that she would neglect her sister's only child. He shouldn't have been surprised; Petunia had left her sister to become a prostitute after their parents had died for no reason other than her own spiteful jealously. He had to think of something, some way to convince Albus to place him in another home.

These days the boy was contriving with his friends. Severus used the boys mind as a gateway to knowing what he was up to. He and his friends had already found out who Nicholas Flamel was and about the Philosopher's stone. He understood that the children were only concerned with what was going on but it was wrong for them to be involved in adult affairs, especially with things that could put their lives in danger. The old saying was true, curiosity could kill a cat.

But there was no way that Severus could curb this behaviour with chastising. He would just have to protect Harry from a distance. He really hoped that his son would change his mind about helping Hagrid give his new baby Norwegian Ridgeback dragon to Ron's Dragonologist brother Charlie. He didn't want the boy walking around the castle at night. Especially with Dark Lord somehow lurking around the grounds.

He decided to walk over to him and check his work, "Evans, show me your work."

Harry gave him his papers. He took a good look at them. They were good. He was glad that the boy had inherited the abilities of his parents.

"These are very good, Harry. You know that."

"Yes sir." Normally he would have been too humble admit such a thing but at the present moment, determined to stand up again to his professor.

"Fine. You can go now." Severus dismissed him with a flick of his hand.

The boy turned to go. It looked like he wanted to say something but he was conflicted as to whether he actually should.

"Hey Professor," Harry turned to him before exiting the potion's classroom, "I've asked a few people this but they have all said 'no'. Have you known anyone who has a crow or even a raven instead of an owl?"

"Well, Harry. Socially, it's not considered normal to keep a crow. They are associated with death and misfortune."

"Well, that's pretty much what everyone says. But do you know anyone?"

Severus knew what Harry was talking about. He was eager to know who sent him the presents for Christmas. During his travels he had met a dark witch in Germany who had a raven as a messenger but she was of no concern to Harry.

He replied honestly, "No, Harry. I don't know anyone."

Harry shrugged disappointedly and left carrying his bag filled with books. All alone, Severus smiled. He couldn't quite remember the last time that he had smiled.

* * *

_A/N: Thank you for reading. Comments, favourites and follows are always appreciated._


	13. The Forbidden Forest

"Wait until my father hears about this. This is servant stuff. Dumbledore will _never_ hear the end of this…"

As they walked through the Forbidden Forest, Harry tried to keep a look out for anything that could possibly be dangerous. It was dark, and he had very little clue as to what creatures could be lurking in the forest. The Forbidden Forest was intended to be banned from students and with good reason – it was dangerous. Harry spent long enough in the Wizarding World to know that magical beasts tended to be more dangerous than normal animals that one would find in parks or zoos. He had no idea why the school would permit going into the Forbidden Forest as a punishment let alone a detention for first year students. Harry had no regrets about giving Norbert to Ron's brother Charlie though, other than losing 50 points from Gryffindor – which made him even more unpopular with the other students.

"My father is on the school board…"

Harry really wished Malfoy would be silent. He didn't seem to care or notice that Hermione, Neville, Hagrid and himself were deliberately ignoring him.

"…He would be flabbergasted that I would be given such a disgusting task with a big half-"

"Shut up, Malfoy – I doubt he would be happy to hear that you have been sneaking out of bed after hours." Hagrid interjected, he obviously had enough of Malfoy's voice.

Malfoy made what sounded like a small whine and became silent. Even though he could not see him, Harry knew that Draco would be sulking. Harry wanted to mutter a quick 'thanks' to Hagrid but decided that this was not the place or the time.

Harry didn't like going into the forest. He could just see the outlines of trees ahead of him, the firm trunks stood before him like giant feet stuck into the ground; it was like the trunks stood as barriers forbidding him to enter. The whole place had a musty smell, like they were walking into a cloud of gas. Harry assumed that he would have liked the place if he were here during the daytime when there was light to guide him, to let him see what was before him, but there wasn't and at the present moment he hated being here. He hated to admit it, but he was terrified.

For a period of time, they all walked together in deathly silence. Nobody dared to talk. As much as Harry respected Hagrid, he didn't like that Hagrid seemed to think that there was nothing wrong with walking around at night in a forest filled with magical creatures, many of them dangerous. He was glad however, that Hagrid apologised about their trouble with Norbert and promised to make it up to them later.

"But what if whatever's been attacking it is still there?" Hermione said in a worried tone.

Hagrid shrugged, "Maybe, I hope not. I don't know what it is. It'd have to be something that is fast enough to catch a unicorn."

"A werewolf?" Harry asked timidly.

"Definitely not," Hagrid firmly shook his head, "werewolves aren't fast enough."

"See that-" Hagrid pointed to the ground, there were small droplets of a bluey silver substance, "Unicorn blood, it means that we're close. Come on."

"Now," Hagrid said in a quiet voice, "By the looks of it, I think we'd better split up. Harry and Malfoy, you'll go with Fang. He'll protect you. Hermione and Neville, yer comin' with me. I assume you all know how to send red sparks if yer in trouble. The sooner we find the poor creature, the better."

So Harry and Malfoy went one way with Fang while Hagrid took Hermione and Neville the other.

"I'm holding on to his leash," Malfoy said in his usual drawling tone, "That way, if you get lost you'll be left all alone."

"Whatever," Harry sighed, not wanting to have an argument with Malfoy in this situation, "I'm keeping the lamp."

They continued to walk in silence. Harry noticed that there was more and more unicorn blood appearing beneath their feet, droplets slowly became silver pools that shone under the moonlight. Fang sniffed at the ground, his sense of smell was leading them closer to the unicorn. They looked like spills of mercury – Harry wondered if unicorn blood had high mercury content.

"It's entirely your fault, you and your insufferable git of a girlfriend. It's _your_ fault that I'm here. You didn't have to smuggle the stupid little dragon up to the tower."

Harry responded with anger, "Well, you didn't have to get out of bed to try and get us into trouble. If it wasn't for you, we all wouldn't be in this mess. So shut up."

"No, you shouldn't have been out of been out after hours in the first place. I think-"

"I don't care what you think, Malfoy."

Suddenly, they heard a rustle and a growl. They both turned to see the unicorn before them, lying lifelessly on the ground. Harry was horrified to the core; a creature so intrinsically good and beautiful was slain so brutally. Harry hadn't been any more shocked and disgusted in his life.

Took one step towards it and then froze to see a cloaked figure kneeling before it, devouring its blood like an animal would eat prey. It turned to look at them to reveal unicorn blood dripping from its face. It let out a low inhuman growl then swooped out of the shadows towards them, levitating as if it did not have any feet. Harry, Malfoy and Fang all stood there transfixed.

"AARGGHH!" Malfoy screamed and bolted away, taking fang with him. Harry listened as Malfoy's screams and Fang's barks became fainter and fainter as they ran into the distance.

Harry stood there alone armed with only a lamp in hand against the hooded figure. The creature slowly coming towards him was pure, conscienceless evil and it was over twice his size. His whole body was trembling. He had no idea what to do and he knew it was stupid to think that he could possibly out run a creature that could catch a unicorn. A piercing pain erupted on his forehead; his scar was hurting but more painful than he had previously known it to. The pain became so sharp that he fell to the ground, leaving him immobile and defenceless against the monster. Harry believed that he was done for; the creature would surely kill him too.

Unexpectedly, Harry could hear the sound of hooves coming closer. He looked up expecting another unicorn to try and defend the death of the other one but instead there was a huge half-man, half-horse running straight for the hooded figure. It was a centaur and it was defending him.

With a powerful whinny and sharp kicks of its hind legs, the figure glided away back into the shadows, fleeing the centaur and leaving Harry. The pain that Harry had experienced had dissipated as quickly as it had come, leaving behind only a tingling sensation on his forehead. He got up on his feet as fast has he could manage.

"Thank you," He said politely but cautiously to the centaur, as he had no idea if the centaur could understand English. Maybe it wasn't defending him at all.

The centaur turned to him, with a facial expression that Harry could only interpret as concern, "Human foals should not be here, it is far too dangerous, especially for one like you Harry Evans."

"Sir," Harry said timidly, he had very little idea of what he should say, "What was that thing? Why did it kill the unicorn?"

The centaur flicked its ears and bent down to meet Harry at face level, "...it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn. Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenceless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."

Harry gasped, "But who would want such a life?"

"I think you already know the answer to that, Harry Evans."

Harry thought for a minute, remembering the pain in his scar. He thought about what kind evil would kill something as benevolent and innocent as a unicorn for purely for its own gain. The thought about something that would kill anything and anyone in its path just to get what it wanted. It was the kind of evil that killed his mother and left him an orphan.

"It's Voldemort, isn't it?" He whispered lightly.

The centaur nodded solemnly, "Now what do you think he is after?"

Harry's eyes widened as all the puzzle pieces were falling into place.

"He wants something stronger to bring him eternal life. He wants the philosopher's stone; he wants the Elixir of Life. He'll pursue it at any cost."

The centaur nodded again, then spoke "It is very strange, Harry Evans, that you of all wizards were the only that Voldemort could not kill. Wizards with exceptional skill, noble hearts and prestigious birth have tried and ended up dead beneath his feet. How strange that a boy who's birth status in the greater eyes of Wizarding society is deemed low enough to be considered an instant outcast, is able to survive an attack by the most evil wizard of all time? It is stranger that they would celebrate him as a hero."

Harry did not know what to reply, he felt embarrassed that even a centaur knew about his mother's former profession and that he had no proven father.

The centaur continued, "The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times. Things have been wrong for some time. Well, I will allow you this once to get on my back, most centaurs would find this degrading but the sooner you are out of the forest the better."

And so, Harry was brought back to Hagrid and the others on the back of the centaur. He was glad to see that the others were fine (well, maybe not as much for Malfoy). However the centaur that saved him, Firenze, angered the two centaurs that Hagrid had found to help when they found out that Firenze had 'let a human ride on his back as if he were a common mule.' However Firenze did not seem too concerned that he had offended members of his own race, believing that protecting Harry was important in defending the forest against what he deemed to be an 'upcoming threat'.

Harry left the forest deep in thought, feeling deeply troubled. The fears that he was feeling needed to be acted upon soon or else the consequences would be severe.

* * *

Severus was both surprised and suspicious that Albus had called for one of their meeting on the top of the astronomy tower at midnight. It was unusual that Albus wanted to see him somewhere other than his office but Severus supposed that information they would be talking about was so sensitive at the moment that he didn't want the portraits in his study to overhear him.

When Severus arrived, he found Dumbledore looking out onto the forest in the distance admiring the landscape, humming to himself. He had caught Dumbledore doing this numerous times before, but never the same tune twice.

"Good evening, Severus."

"Evening, Albus." Severus replied, "Has Hagrid returned with Harry yet?"

"Not yet," Albus turned to him and frowned, in a way that was strange for his uncommonly calm demeanour. He was just as concerned about the children as Severus was.

Severus was not amused, "They shouldn't be out there in this current situation. What is Hagrid thinking of taking them out there? This will only end terribly. His assumption that all magical beasts can be sweet and cuddly as well as his laissez-faire approach to child-minding will only end in tragedy someday …"

"Remember that I've let you be a teacher after all these years despite the numerous complaints by parents."

"That is irrelevant," Severus lamented, "You should not have allowed Harry to be lead into the forest. Especially with what is happening. I'm positive that Quirrell is there with Voldemort acting on his behalf right now, drinking unicorn blood as we speak."

"He is, but I doubt that he will be in a position to attack Harry. He is too weak, but still elusive enough to keep away from me. It would be foolish of us to attack him outright. How will it look if we just attacked him? The piece of Voldemort's soul that is with him will simply attach itself to something else and we will have to start looking for it all over again. Besides, Quirrell is a coward and a fool – his true colours will show themselves soon and then will be the time to act."

"It is still not right for you to do that. I hate the way you act like this is all just an orchestra with you appointed as the conductor."

"We must tread carefully. Harry will be fine tonight. If something does happen, I believe that Hagrid be taking excellent care of him."

He hated when Albus acted like this. His whole 'I don't have to explain myself' attitude was not endearing when he had to just hope that Albus had everything planned out for the best.

Severus and Albus fell silent. For a moment, they did nothing but stare at the forest, hoping to see some sign of Hagrid and the children. The place lit up only by the light enlightening from the moon and the stars above.

"'In my world you are more than my sun and moon but also the stars, planets and dark void all combined. You are the sky above, unconquered and blue. –'"

"' - You are the only thing that is real in my mind. If all the stars were little diamonds, I would give each and every one of them to you.'"

"So you remember?"

He turned to Albus and shook his head in sadness, "How could I ever forget?"

"It is a powerful thing, love." Albus continued in his usual absentminded tone, "The protection that Lily had sacrificed herself to save Harry with is the most powerful spell I have ever come across. No ordinary witch or wizard could have pulled off something like that. Love that deep lasts well after her own death. It is a mark, deeper and far more potent than the one that Tom left on his forehead. It would have taken true strength, especially when you consider how frail and weak her depression had made her. After everything she had been through."

"Lily was never an ordinary witch."

"I only hope that her sacrifice can protect him as long as possible. At least he seems to have settled in just fine at Hogwarts."

"Albus, he has a difficult journey ahead. It doesn't help that he is being bullied by the Malfoy boy."

"It is important to remember that Draco's attitudes are the reflection of both the beliefs instilled on him by Lucius and poor, overindulgent parenting."

"Speaking of poor parenting, I want to talk to you about the Dursleys. I have seen that they have been horrible guardians for Harry. If it wasn't for Lily's protection, he would be a little monster by now."

Albus shook his head, "I have worked it out that Lily's sacrifice can be extended to her living relatives – that includes her sister, Petunia Dursley. I understand that you disliked her, even as a child. She is her only closest living relative. I know that she, her husband and son are awful for him to have to live with but the most important thing was that Harry was safe from Tom. That was all that mattered. I find it distasteful that she transferred all of her resent and jealousy over magical abilities that Lily inherited to Harry."

"You are wrong. I've done some research. Petunia isn't her only living relative. I have discovered that one of her cousins, Portia Granger nee Evans, is the mother of Hermione Granger. He might be able to stay with them. Despite being a nosey little know-it-all, Hermione is a nice girl. I assume her parents are nice people as well. Both Portia and her husband John are dentists, a profession that suggests that they are both well educated. It is also good that they know about the Wizarding World, I wouldn't want to leave him with muggles that had no clue about magic. It's a strange co-incidence that Harry is unknowingly friends with his second cousin."

Albus raised his eyebrows, "You have been busy, Severus. However, I don't know whether this can happen. I don't know whether the protection would extend that far. Besides, Harry doesn't know Hermione's parents. It might be a complete shock to him. I think we better save it if something really bad happens with the Dursleys."

Severus had to agree; he couldn't just take Harry from the Dursleys and put him with people he did not know. He watched as Albus walked over to pick up something that was underneath one of the benches. It was a sleek, silvery cloth. Severus had been through enough experiences to know what it really was.

"Potter's old invisibility cloak," Severus said with eyes widened, he was surprised to see it. He remembered the countless pranks that Potter played on him using that cloak.

"Yes, Harry must have left it here when he was giving the dragon to Charlie Weasley. James endowed it to Harry as well as everything else he owned in his will."

Severus frowned distastefully, "I know. Even I have to admit that is was a good way to spite his estranged Death Eater cousins, leaving everything to a muggle born prostitute and her son."

"That's not why he did it," Albus shook his head, "He did it as retribution for all the suffering he caused you as a teenager. He wanted Harry to have a better life. James had matured considerably since he left school and was great asset to the Order. Besides, you can't hold on to a grudge forever Severus."

Severus scoffed; he didn't believe that a spoilt brat like Potter would be capable of such altruism.

"Well," He said, "Forgiveness isn't one of my best qualities."

"I know…" Albus was quiet before speaking again, "The only reason why Potter is dead is because I was borrowing his cloak to study it, to uncover its qualities. He could have easily hid from the Death Eaters that night using his cloak. For that, I feel partially responsible for his death."

Albus frowned and shook his head in remorse. Albus didn't express much emotion but when he did it was strong and genuine. Severus ran his hand over the cloak; it was finer and softer than silk. The cloak was something magnificent, he could feel a peculiar magic illuminating from it. It was a cloak that would be invisible forever, never losing its power and impervious to all charms including revealing charms. There were none like it. He remembered the old tales that his mother had read to him when he was a child; he recognised what it really was instantly.

He decided to comfort Albus, "You were not the one who killed him."

He then continued, "I doubt that Potter appreciated it's full worth or for what it really is. I bet he only liked it because he could use it for pranks."

"James did not know what it really was but I know he appreciated it immensely. It was passed down to him from his direct ancestors. It was the last thing that directly reminded him of his parents. Now it belongs to Harry. I should go now, and return it to Harry's dorm before he gets back. He must be worried sick about it."

"Ok, I'll see you later Albus."

Albus turned away and left with a small 'pop', leaving Severus on the tower riddled with anxiety. He only felt alright again once he spotted a group of lamp lights leaving the forest.

* * *

_A/N: Thanks for reading so far, but I would really love some more reviews. :) It is good? Bad? Or just average?_


	14. Quirinus Quirrell

A/N: I know I haven't updated but real life can be demanding sometimes. Anyway, here it is. Not much, but it'll have to do for now.

* * *

Harry found it hard to adjust to doing normal school work after the incidence in the Forbidden Forest. He found it an intense struggle to concentrate on his upcoming exams when he knew that there was a real danger around him, waiting for its opportunity to attack him directly.

"Harry," Hermione frowned, "You've only eaten two bites of your toast. We have a big day today, remember."

Harry shrugged, "I know, Hermione. I'm just not hungry at the moment."

"Come to think of it," Ron joined in; it was rare that he and Hermione agreed on something, "You haven't been eating much since what happened in the forest. I don't blame you, but you've just got to eat."

Hermione started to read the letter from her parents that had arrived that morning. Harry couldn't help but admit that he was slightly jealous when his friends received mail but he was used to it. Hermione would get a letter every week from her parents and sometimes even a chocolate bar or magazine if she had done well on an exam. Mrs Weasley would send her sons things she had baked in her free time to share with their friends or send supplies like quills if they needed them. At least Hermione and Ron's parents weren't like Malfoy's who regularly sent him lollies and other treats, regardless of whether or not he had done anything to deserve them. If only he could find out whom his mysterious gift giver was for Christmas. He also wondered if the gift giver would come next Christmas or even on his next birthday.

"Harry," Hermione said in an unusually surprised tone, "My parents have told me that they have received a letter from Dumbledore asking if they could possibly look after Harry if living with the Dursleys gets too hard. Harry, apparently we're related."

"What?" Harry and Ron said in unison.

"Have you only just found out?" exclaimed Ron.

"Well, it came to me as a vague possibility a little while earlier. I mean, my mother's maiden name is Evans but seeming that it's such a common surname I thought it was just a coincidence."

"Are you cousins or distantly related?" Ron asked.

"Second cousins. My mother is Lily Evans' cousin and she told me that she would visit her aunt, uncle and cousins Petunia and Lily at Christmas time as a child. She had no idea that Cousin Lily was a witch at all. She's still quite surprised. Mum says that she liked Lily but she said she found Petunia standoffish. She also says that she fell out of touch with Lily and Petunia when their parents perished in a car accident."

"Wow," was all that Harry could say, he was surprised but he shouldn't have been – did he honestly believe that the Dursleys were the only people in the world that he was biologically related to?

"Who else are we both related to?" Harry asked out of curiosity.

"Well," Hermione thought, "There are my maternal grandparents, Felix and Viola Evans. There is also my Uncle Lysander who married Aunt Tracey and my young cousins, Jasper and Juliet. Not many people."

Harry didn't quite know why knowing that there he had relatives that he had never met or known made him feel better but maybe knowing that there were other relatives that existed made him feel better in a way that he wasn't alone in the world with only the Dursleys.

* * *

Severus had always kept an eye on Quirinus Quirrell and his stuttering, mumbling presence but ever since the incidence in the Forbidden Forest; Severus was determined to never let him out of his sight. He now had an idea of exactly what he was dealing with. Even for someone who has had his fair share of dealing with the Dark Arts, Severus was disgusted that Quirrell had freely permitted Voldemort to live in his body as a parasite. Even in the days where he was most loyal to the Dark Lord, there were boundaries Severus knew he would never cross. No matter how much power and influence that he would offer him, Severus knew that there were things that were not worth being the Dark Lord's current favourite for. Quirrell had readily sold Voldemort much more than his body and possibly more than his soul. Severus could fathom that only a person who truly believed that they were completely worthless would do such a thing.

Albus' assurances that everything would go according to plan were of no comfort to him. Severus knew that the sooner Quirrell was sorted out the better. Quirrell was becoming more careless, his increasingly eccentric behaviour and inconsistent background stories were becoming more and more pronounced. It was no longer just the other professors that were involved with the protection of the stone that were concerned about Quirrell but surprisingly, a proportion of Hogwart's more alert students were as well. Some of his NEWT students asked him a few days ago on how Quirrell could have received his turban from an African prince for defeating a zombie if zombies only reside in South America. He also remembered Marcus Flint telling his friends how he overheard Quirrell having an argument with another voice about finding 'the stone' but found out that he was talking to himself. Luckily, for the stone's secrecy, his friends found the story too disturbing and farfetched to believe him.

He had a conversation with Quirrell a while ago in the Forbidden Forest. Being around Voldemort, Quirrell would know that he was supposedly the Dark Lord's secret agent to spy on Albus and he had hoped that Quirrell would possibly come clean with him.

"I don't know why you wanted to meet here of all places, Severus." Quirrell said in his usual timid tone.

Snape replied back in his iciest voice, "Oh, I thought we'd keep this private, students aren't supposed to know about the Philosopher's Stone after all."

Quirrell started mumbling something inaudible.

"I know what the Dark Lord has sent you here for." Severus interjected, "I am a servant of his as well, and I can help you. That is if your loyalty to him is true. I'm not sure it is, considering how you have been so foolish in your attempts to retrieve the stone. Have you found out a way to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"

"But Severus, I-I-I-I…" Quirrell stuttered, even though it was obvious that simply feigning ignorance when Severus clearly knew the truth was a big mistake.

"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell," He muttered and took a step towards him.

"I don't know what you-"

"You know perfectly well what I mean."

"I know the reason for your little bit of hocus pocus recently. I'm waiting."

"But I don't-"

Severus was growing increasingly irate with him. The man _still_ insisted on using the ploy of being a timid, weak idiot. His mind was decided.

"Very well. We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie."

Severus decided to leave Quirrell, he would simply have to wait until Quirrell's mental state had deteriorated further in the hope that he could extract some information from him. This wasn't what he wanted to do, time was running out.

* * *

Harry let out a huge sigh of relief, exams were over. He didn't think that he could have survived but they were and now he was simply relaxing with Ron and Hermione.

"I think I did well." Ron shrugged.

"I'm not so sure I did as well as I could have. I mean I would have gotten more study done if it weren't for the whole Norbert fiasco and the night detention."

"Hermione," Ron said, "You're the best in our year, only just in front of a stressed out Harry – you would have done fine. Goodness gracious, don't worry about it."

Suddenly, something disturbed Harry.

"Speaking of Norbet, doesn't it strike you as odd that what Hagrid wants a dragon more than anything else and a random stranger just happens to have one to give to him? I'm sure most wizards don't just hoard dragon eggs in their pocket regularly. I mean, I'm pretty sure possession of dragon eggs is restricted."

Both of them just looked at him. It was odd.

Harry frowned, "I think we better talk to him."

They found Hagrid sitting on the chair outside his hut playing his flute with not a care in the world.

"Hagrid, we need to talk to you!" Harry blurted.

Hagrid gave them a baffled look; it wasn't every day that some first year students started him by demanding to speak to him.

"Well, what can I do fer ye?" Hagrid said cheerfully as ever.

"That man who gave you the dragon egg at the pub, what did he look like?" Hermione asked.

"I dunno. Don't remember his face, he was wearing a cloak."

"You must remember something about him," Harry said, "What did he want?"

"Oh, we just had a few drinks. We were talking about Hogwarts and he was curious about three headed dogs."

The trio just looked at each other. They all remembered the three headed dog they encounter in the forbidden corridor.

"Well?" Ron said, "What did you say?"

"I told him that I had a dog called Fluffy and that he's such a dear. Just play him a bit of music and he'll fall straight asleep."

The trio started looking at each other. This really was the worst possible scenario. Voldemort was so close to getting the stone.

Hagrid frowned as he realised the impact of what he had just told them, "I shouldn't have told you lot that."

The three of them ran back into the castle, they had to do something, anything to stop Voldemort from grabbing a hold of the stone.

"We have to go in there!" Harry exclaimed, "Tonight!"


End file.
